Airport Road closes for two weeks for Duluth airport tower project
Airport Road shut down for two weeks Monday as Duluth began work tied to a new control tower at the airport.
Airport Road went quiet Monday as Duluth closed a key stretch for the start of construction on a new air traffic control tower at Duluth International Airport, forcing drivers, airport workers and nearby businesses to reroute for about two weeks.
The shutdown covers Airport Road from the Cirrus facility to just west of Airport Approach Road. City officials said there is no posted detour, but traffic can get around the closure from U.S. Highway 53 using Cirrus Drive or Stebner Road. The city also urged drivers to give themselves extra time in the area, where Airport Road serves as more than a neighborhood street and functions as a connector for airport access, employee traffic and business deliveries.
The short-term inconvenience is part of a much larger project at one of the Northland’s most important transportation assets. The Duluth Airport Authority has been pushing for a replacement tower for years, holding an open house on April 10, 2024, as the project moved forward. A groundbreaking ceremony for the new tower is scheduled for Wednesday, May 20, 2026, marking the transition from planning and funding into construction.
Federal officials have repeatedly pointed to the tower’s age and the scope of the upgrade. In May 2025, they announced nearly $6 million in additional funding. In November 2025, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced another $20 million for the project, putting the anticipated total cost at about $66 million. Officials said the existing tower was built in the 1950s and is one of the oldest in the country, while the new tower will be double the height of the current one to improve sight lines to the airfield.
A federal permitting page says the work includes construction of a new airport traffic control tower that meets FAA siting requirements, followed by eventual demolition of the existing tower. The Duluth Airport Authority has said the tower is urgently due for an upgrade, and late-2025 funding came through the FAA’s Airport Terminal Program, one of the aviation programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
For now, the immediate cost is slower trips through the airport corridor. For Duluth, the longer-term payoff is a modern control tower meant to improve safety and efficiency at an airport that handles heavy business, freight and passenger traffic across St. Louis County.
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