Lincoln Airport is undergoing what officials describe as a once-in-a-generation transformation that could reshape business development, military operations and commercial travel in Nebraska’s capital city.
At the center of that transformation is Project 18/36, a full reconstruction of the airport’s primary runway, which stretches nearly 2½ miles. The roughly $85 million project is funded through a 50/50 partnership between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Nebraska Air National Guard, whose 155th Air Refueling Wing operates from Lincoln.
Rachel Barth, the airport’s director of marketing and public affairs, said the funding structure required years of coordination at the federal level.
“It’s really kind of a unicorn,” Barth said. “It only happens once in a long while.”…