Abandoned runways turned into roads

[Kniwt]

Quick search didn't reveal any previous discussion, so ... Interested in examples of runways that were abandoned and later repurposed as roads with (mostly) the original runway surface intact.

(Dual-purpose facilities that serve as both active roads and runways don't count, such as the one on the Dempster Highway.)

My example is from St. George UT, where the former SGU airport moved several miles away in 2011. In early 2022, a runway was used to connect the new Cloud Drive to the existing Tech Ridge Drive:

[M3100]

Grand Central Ave., in Glendale, CA was a runway in years past for a long closed airport.  For reference it is not far from the I-5/CA SR 134 interchange.

[Takumi]

Do race tracks count? Sebring International Raceway in Florida and Silverstone Circuit in England are both former airfields with parts of old runways used as parts of the track, and I know there are more.

[Scott5114]

Doesn't quite count, because they did tear up the original surface and lay a new one, but... In Oklahoma City's Wheeler District, which used to be the downtown municipal airport, the main runway's alignment has a street laid over it now. The name of it? ... Run Way.

Another one that does count: a section of runway from the old Greater Southwest airport in Fort Worth became Amon Carter Boulevard.

(Photo by Travis Church)

[Rothman]

Syracuse Hancock Int'l should partially turn its old runway into parking.

[SkyPesos]

Hong Kong's old Kai Tak Airport's runway is now a road with some development along it.

[ilpt4u]

Pretty sure Loop Rd W at the site of the National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH used to be an active runway

[formulanone]

Many of Florida Atlantic University and Palm Beach State College's roads or parking lots throughout the campuses are former runways.

The site has a darker history; it was once part of the Yamato Colony, and was seized by "eminent domain". It then became an Army Air Corps' training facility, and part of it became Boca Raton's municipal airport. Training changed to another site, and the site went to a new public University. (FAU has made some amends with its past, and frequently donates to the nearby Morikami Museum.)   

But yeah, it was possible to drive like a nut on some the campus roads and still not get in anyone's way. There was never much of a battle for parking, either...local EMTs and helicopters used to train on some of the far-off runways. But there's been a lot of new construction over the last 20 years which eliminated a lot of the disused runways.

[usends]

The former runways for Casper's old airport are now used as roads in the town of Bar Nunn WY.

[Terry Shea]

The old Grand Rapids airport main runway became Roger B Chaffee Blvd.
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MI/Airfields_MI_SW.htm#kentco

[Bruce]

One of the closed runways at Arlington Municipal Airport in Washington was converted into a drive-up vaccination site.



Source: https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2021/03/06/a-shot-in-the-arm-at-the-airport/

[GaryV]

The old Grand Rapids airport main runway became Roger B Chaffee Blvd.
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MI/Airfields_MI_SW.htm#kentco

I wondered if the street had reused a runway.

The company my dad worked for, Carpenter Paper Co., moved in the 60's to R B Chaffee from Market St near downtown. I worked in the warehouse 2 or 3 summers while in college.

[Dirt Roads]

I recall that an old article about Raleigh Municipal Airport discussed how some the developments along Chapanoke Road were constructed over the main north-south runway (14/32).  Another article indicates that one of the main intersections in that development is directly at the main intersection of the runways.  That doesn't look quite right.  Rather, it appears that Chapanoke is parallel and just slightly north of the ramp to the old main terminal.  If so, it appears that the intersection of Chapanoke Road and Ileagues Road sits upon the intersection of old Runway 14/32 and old Runway 4/22. 

Oddly, the main east-west runway (9/27) was constructed perpendicular to US-401 (South Wilmington Street) and would have made a great roadway into the development.  However, the interchange of South Saunders and South Wilmington (probably constructed in the late 1970s) is too close to where the extended runway would have intersected South Wilmington Street (US-70/US-401), which likely explains why the runway was not used for the development. 

You'll have to dig through a bunch of other airports to get down to the old Raleigh Municipal Airport, but here's a link with some good info:  http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NC/Airfields_NC_Raleigh.htm

[woodpusher]

There was a proposal (not sure how serious it was) to convert the old Pittsburgh Airport into a stadium.  I had thought it was a good idea - the land was flat and the concourse had at least one restaurant.  Instead the taxpayers got screwed twice (maybe three times if Three RIvers wasn't paid off) on PNC Park and Heinz Field. 

[mgk920]

Weren't many abandoned runways at WWII training bases later on used as competitive drag strips?

Mike

[SD Mapman]

The old Salina, KS airport (http://www.airfields-freeman.com/KS/Airfields_KS_Wichita.htm#salina had the taxiway turned into part of Markley Road, the runway turned into parking for baseball fields, and the apron turned into parking for a golf course: https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8189772,-97.5646825,2324m/data=!3m1!1e3

[KCRoadFan]

I seem to remember seeing a picture from Denver's former airport (Stapleton), in which one of the runways crossed I-70 on an overpass. Does a road now use that bridge, or was it taken down when Stapleton closed?

[formulanone]

I seem to remember seeing a picture from Denver's former airport (Stapleton), in which one of the runways crossed I-70 on an overpass. Does a road now use that bridge, or was it taken down when Stapleton closed?

Historic Aerials shows photos from 1999 whereby the runway bridges were removed (the airport moved in 1995).

[mgk920]

I seem to remember seeing a picture from Denver's former airport (Stapleton), in which one of the runways crossed I-70 on an overpass. Does a road now use that bridge, or was it taken down when Stapleton closed?

Historic Aerials shows photos from 1999 whereby the runway bridges were removed (the airport moved in 1995).

Yea, CDOT daylighted that I-70 overcrossing not long after DEN was moved to its present location in the mid 1990s.

mike

[triplemultiplex]

After KI Sawyer AFB closed, the civilian airport in Marquette, MI, moved there.  The old Marquette County Airport is now an industrial park with some of the old taxiways and part of a runway used as roads:

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=46.53342,-447.55659&z=16&t=S

[HighwayStar]

I seem to remember seeing a picture from Denver's former airport (Stapleton), in which one of the runways crossed I-70 on an overpass. Does a road now use that bridge, or was it taken down when Stapleton closed?

Historic Aerials shows photos from 1999 whereby the runway bridges were removed (the airport moved in 1995).

Yea, CDOT daylighted that I-70 overcrossing not long after DEN was moved to its present location in the mid 1990s.

mike

Its too bad they could not keep both and have a closer to center city option like Dallas has with Love Field.

[triplemultiplex]

Its too bad they could not keep both and have a closer to center city option like Dallas has with Love Field.

I hear the proximity to the mountains created problems with wind shear for pilots at Stapleton.  So it wasn't just about needing more space or noise abatement when they moved the airport.  They had safety concerns.
Which always struck me as weird because there are several other airports a similar distance to the mountains in other Front Range cities.  Though none with nearly the traffic as Denver.

As it stands, it was the correct move to redevelop Stapleton rather than keep it.  The gains in housing for a growing metro supersede the marginal convenience of some planes landing slightly closer to the city.

[kphoger]

Its too bad they could not keep both and have a closer to center city option like Dallas has with Love Field.

I hear the proximity to the mountains created problems with wind shear for pilots at Stapleton.  So it wasn't just about needing more space or noise abatement when they moved the airport.  They had safety concerns.
Which always struck me as weird because there are several other airports a similar distance to the mountains in other Front Range cities.  Though none with nearly the traffic as Denver.

As it stands, it was the correct move to redevelop Stapleton rather than keep it.  The gains in housing for a growing metro supersede the marginal convenience of some planes landing slightly closer to the city.

The worst turbulence I've personally experienced was on approach to Stapleton from the west.

[HighwayStar]

Its too bad they could not keep both and have a closer to center city option like Dallas has with Love Field.

I hear the proximity to the mountains created problems with wind shear for pilots at Stapleton.  So it wasn't just about needing more space or noise abatement when they moved the airport.  They had safety concerns.
Which always struck me as weird because there are several other airports a similar distance to the mountains in other Front Range cities.  Though none with nearly the traffic as Denver.

As it stands, it was the correct move to redevelop Stapleton rather than keep it.  The gains in housing for a growing metro supersede the marginal convenience of some planes landing slightly closer to the city.

I am well aware of the turbulence excuse, but it makes no sense when you consider they flew in and out of there for decades. It was definitely more of a NIMBY cause.
And housing can be put further out as well, but once you cannibalize an airport you will never be able to have one so conveniently close to city center again.

[US 89]

I am well aware of the turbulence excuse, but it makes no sense when you consider they flew in and out of there for decades. It was definitely more of a NIMBY cause.

Just because the airport can function doesn't mean it's running at peak efficiency or peak safety. I bet if you told a plane full of passengers that they were flying into an objectively more dangerous airport when a safer one was nearby, they wouldn't be too happy about it...