MSP Airport closes runway to upgrade lighting
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Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport closed one runway Tuesday to replace the electrical system and install new energy efficient lighting. The closure is expected to last for six weeks.
Jeff Lea, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Airports Commission and MSP Airport, said the shut down for Runway 17-35 isn’t expected to impact travel from the airport.
“I think for those that are in and around the airport, they might see a slight change and flight patterns, and those that drive on Highway 77, there will be no activity for the next six weeks,” Lea said. “But it’s all because of a project to upgrade and modernize the lighting systems on that runway and the associated taxiways.”
The airport runs with four runways and 19 taxiways, and not all of them are in use at any given time. That provides the airport FAA traffic control enough flexibility to direct planes to other runways and reduce the impact on travelers.
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“It might have a slight change in air traffic patterns because certainly when you have a runway that's not in use, planes will not be departing or taking off,” Lea said. “But that’s kind of a normal puzzle that the FAA does in routing air traffic in and out of the airport.”
Crews will install 436 runway lights and 617 taxiway lights, as well as convert fixtures to help convert the old halogen fixtures to LED lighting.
That will help increase energy efficiency, since the new lighting fixtures will reduce amperage from 20 to 6.6, and the runway lights power usage will change from 120 watts to 50 watts, as well as taxiway lights decreasing from 45 watts to 15 watts, all without losing brightness.
The new LED fixtures have a life expectancy that’s about 25 times longer than the older halogen lights.
It’s also the final stage of a multi-year plan to replace the lighting for all four runways. The first stage was finished in 2019 to replace taxiway lighting and signage with LEDs for Runway 4-22 and then completed the switch on the other two runways: 12L-30R was finished in 2024 and 12R-30L in 2025.
