The Medford airport received more than $800,000 to go toward upgrading its air traffic control tower. 

Runway lighting control at the Medford airport will enter the computer age with an upgrade funded by an $801,341 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for improvements to the control tower.

“We are doing some much needed upgrades. The vast majority of the grant will be used for the airfield lighting control and monitoring system,” said airport Director Amber Judd. Part of the grant will be used to upgrade tower elevator components.

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The grant money comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law through an FAA airport infrastructure program, Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said in a news advisory about the award Thursday.

The airport currently uses manual controls to regulate lighting for airport runways. The new system will incorporate a computer-based touch screen control for the lights. But manual control will still be available as a backup.

The system controls runway lights, and it can bring up the centerline lights to one of three intensity levels, Judd explained. But pilots can also control the lights from their aircraft to meet their needs.

Judd said tower personnel are excited about the upgrades, which will make the lighting somewhat easier to control. Cost of the upgrade is $550,000. The project ties in with one completed last year in which halogen runways lights were replaced with LED fixtures.

The ALCS system was bid as an improvement along with the new lighting and a seal-coating of the runway surfaces last year. The grant means the airport won’t need to spend its own money for the new system. The entire project had a cost of $3.65 million.

The runaway project also included new runway closure markers, large lighted X’s that can alert pilots when a runaway is closed, although they would also receive radio communication. In the future, the airport will look at upgrading communication systems in the tower, Judd said.

More than $5 billion was included in the infrastructure bill for air traffic facilities over five years, with $100 million reserved for what are called contract towers, said Judd. This is the first year of a contract tower grant program, she said.

Medford is one of numerous contract towers across the county where the FAA contracts with private companies to provide air traffic control personnel rather than using agency employees.

Serco Management Services Inc. provides the controllers for Medford. Nationally, there are 250 towers in the contract program, 49% of all FAA towers. Larger airports generally use FAA personnel.

“Airports provide critical infrastructure that connect rural and urban businesses, travelers and industries with hubs in Oregon and across the nation,” said Merkley, a Democrat. “This funding for Rogue Valley International will help to ensure this vital regional hub is able to continue providing safe, reliable services and keep Southern Oregon and rural communities connected.”

“Safe air travel for residents of Southern Oregon and visitors to the region requires regular infrastructure investments just like this one,” Wyden, a Democrat, said.

Medford’s tower is 100 feet tall and replaced a 60-foot-tall tower in 2009. Adroit Construction of Ashland built the tower at a cost of $3.6 million. Federal money paid for the tower. The tower’s HVAC system has been replaced, and regular maintenance is performed, said Judd.

In other airport upgrade news:

• Phase One of a general aviation apron project will kick off this week. It will bring infrastructure and utilities for expansion. The expansion will allow for more hangars and businesses, and also create a large apron where planes that will remain at the field overnight can be parked to leave access to gates for other flights.
• Bids will be sought in the near future for an east side apron project. It will create more room for large aircraft, such as the DC-10s that come to battle wildfires.