ESCANABA — The Delta County Airport will be reopening its crosswind runway after two months of construction today. The $2.6 million dollar project, completed ahead of schedule, included the re-pavement of the runway and associated parallel taxiway pavement, new Light Emitting Diode (LED) runway lights, and the re-designation of the runway to compensate for magnetic variation.

To celebrate the opening of the new runway, Dennis Hopkins, a retired U.S. Navy captain and local pilot, will make the first take-off and landing in his Piper Archer. Hopkins, who is an avid flyer, received both his private pilot license and instrument pilot license at the Delta County Airport in 2015 and has just accumulated a total of 500 flying hours since.

The runway construction project created no delays or cancellations to Delta Connection flights due to the airport’s and construction crew’s efforts to perform work around the airline’s scheduled flights.