Enhancements to Logan Airport’s Runway 27 will be made over the course of several months. ~Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Ewan Henrie

The City of Somerville hosted a virtual meeting on August 12 to discuss changes being made to Runway 27 at Boston’s Logan Airport. This is the first enhancement to the runway in over 30 years and is mandated by the FAA.

Sarah Dennechuk spoke about what the changes to Runway 27 would bring. She said that the biggest change will be the installation of an Engineered Materials Arresting System, otherwise known as EMAS. The EMAS is designed to stop overrun aircraft without any human injuries and the least amount of damage to the plane. This will be in addition to two EMASes that have already been installed at Logan Airport.

Dennechuk added that the enhancements made to the runway “will not change the operational capacity of the runway in any way.” It will extend the runway safety area to 650 by 350 feet. She then announced that Runway 27 will be closed starting on August 31 and is expected to be shut down for about 75 days.

The Q&A session followed. Steve Sulprizio took a question about how many more flights would fly over the city of Somerville during construction of the runway. Steve answered that “There will be a decrease in activity during the closure for construction of the runway.” Dennechuk also answered a question about whether or not the safety project was for arrivals or departures, answering that it would be “for both directions.” Sulprizio also announced there would be a slight reduction in traffic in South Boston during the construction.