The Spokane International Airport plans to resume work in April on the $3.9 million first phase of a large taxiway reconfiguration project. 

Meantime, airport spokesman Todd Woodard says the second phase of the project will go to bid in June, with that work scheduled to start in 2015. The total cost for the project is expected to be about $7.4 million, he says. 

On the first phase, William Winkler Co., of Newman Lake, Wash., is the contractor, and Portland, Ore.-based Century West Engineering Corp., which has a branch office here, provided engineering services.

The first phase, which is about half completed, has involved reconfiguring existing taxiways and adding some high-speed taxiways. 

The $3.5 million second phase of the project is slated to go to bid in June, with construction beginning in 2015. Century West also is the engineer for that phase. It also will involve the reconfiguration of existing taxiways; at this time, there’s no estimated completion date. 

Both phases of the project are being funded by a grant from the the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program. The program is funded through a 7.5 percent tax on plane tickets. The government collects the money and then distributes it for projects. 

According to information on the Century West website, the taxiways needed to be reconfigured to match up with the runways after a recent runway lengthening project. The project also will include some repaving work, it says. The company developed new layouts for the taxiways, and configured two of the taxiway exits as high-speed exits.