Massport officials provided an update on runway work at Logan Airport that will take place later this month and through the fall, as well as on its soundproofing program.
The second year of the Runway 27 safety improvement project will see a substantial runway closure beginning on August 31 and running for 75 days, according to Sarah Dennechuk of Massport.
“The limits are within the city of Boston, but we are very close to you so we are visiting you again this year just prior to starting,” she said.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mandated that Massport bring the Runway 27 safety area up to the federal safety standards. The runway’s approach end was last enhanced in 1992 with the construction of an incline safety area, which at the time was mattresses filled with rocks.
“Newer technologies allow even closer adherence to FAA safety standards while minimizing environmental impacts,” said Dennechuk. “The purpose of the project is to increase safety for aircrafts and their passengers in emergency situations by enhancing the end safety area consistent with FAA requirements.”
The Runway 27 project is a required FAA safety project, Dennechuk said, and the runway will not be extended, nor will the operational capacity change.
Construction on the project started last year after Labor Day for a 75-day window.
“This year, we start on August 31,” Dennechuk said. “Labor Day is very late, so we would finish around mid-November.”
One different piece about the project this season is that there will be the installation of a jet blast deflector which will allow for limited use of the runway by group 3 aircraft such as 737 or other smaller planes.
“They will not be taking off over Winthrop, they will be taking off in the other direction, so it is very limited based on wind direction and visibility,” Dennechuk said. “It’s temporary and will be removed. It’s nothing to do with landing on 27, it’s just if we need to be able to depart 27 during certain configurations.
The noisy work will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Fridays, with an 8 a.m start on Saturdays and a 9 a.m. start on Sundays.
“They might be doing some work on the overnights, nothing noisy, just to keep the schedule,” Dennechuk said.
She added that there is a phone call with the construction team every morning so that if there are issues, they can be addressed immediately.
Steve Sulprizio of Massport said the soundproofing program for homes relaunched in the early 2020s when the FAA gave it permission to treat homes that were treated prior to 1993. The FAA also opened up eligibility for a number of homes that were not eligible decades ago.
“One new part of the program is these HVAC upgrades which previous phases of the program were not eligible for HVAC upgrades, this is a huge bonus for homeowners that participate in the program now,” Sulprizio said.
Jones Payne is the main consultant for the soundproofing project and organize much of the day-to-day outreach with homeowners, he said.
“We launched our initial pilot program back in 2024 and we completed construction in that May of 2025 of five homes in Winthrop and we actually did three additional homes in the spring, so currently, we have treated eight homes in Winthrop.”
The next round of about 26 homes to be treated will begin at the end of 2026 into the beginning of 2027, he stated.
“Those homes are actually the most severely noise impacted, all 26 are in what we call the 70 DNL Noise Contour, which is the highest noise exposure that we have on our map, so those will definitely need the treatment,” Sulprizio said. “That’s how we are prioritizing homes to do first in the program, it’s most severely noise impacted first.”
After that phase of the program, he said Massport and the consultant will be designing a 60 home package.
“We are reaching out to homeowners now, scheduling some acoustical testing … and then we’ll start designing properties once we’ve selected them,” Sulprizio said. “Those homes would be treated most likely later in 2027.”
Sulprizio said there are more than 400 potentially treatable homes in Winthrop.
Anyone with questions about the project can contact the Massport sound abatement program at (617) 561-3333.