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The new $150 million  runway project at Piedmont Triad International Airport  will open today after a complex, six-year  construction process.

The existence of a third  runway represents another milestone in the transformation of PTI  since FedEx  announced plans for a package-sorting hub here more than a decade ago.

The 9,000-foot runway   — called 5L-23R  — means that planes will be able to take off and land simultaneously on parallel runways — a first for PTI.

The two  existing runways — one of which is 10,000  feet while the other is 6,380  feet — form a right angle.

“This is a great day for the airport and the Piedmont Triad ,” said Henry Isaacson , chairman of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority . “This new runway will give our region a competitive edge when it comes to economic growth.”

The project will open between 150  and 200  additional acres for development between the runway and Bryan Boulevard  on the airport’s western side.

FedEx occupies about 170  acres on PTI’s northern edge and accommodates between six  and eight  planes a day. That number could eventually grow to more than 20 .

In all, airport officials say, PTI handles about 150  flights a day, including passenger, cargo and general aviation.

The opening of the new runway completes an expansion project that dates back to April 1998  when FedEx announced it would build a mid-Atlantic package sorting   hub at the airport.

The FedEx project included rerouting a section of Bryan Boulevard, the construction of a major new interchange into the airport, work on the eight-building  FedEx complex, which opened in June , and the runway.

The runway was paid for using federal grants and $30 million  in airport authority money.

“It’s a big project,” Isaacson said. “It’s not like building a road. There’s lights and instruments (involved). We’re not finished.”

Around April , the airport will begin using a system on the new runway that will allow pilots to land in what Isaacson called “zero-zero” visibility.

“He is almost flying blind,” Isaacson said of the pilot. “If it is so foggy that you can’t see in front of you — right down to the deck — you can land safely.”

In other developments, airport officials said they:

•  Continue to seek between $10 million  and $25 million  for a new tower. “What you try to do is get the FAA  to pay the bill,” said Ted Johnson , the airport authority’s executive director. “There are only two  options. They pay for it or (we) pay for it.

  “The FAA has a list of towers that are needed. We are probably a pretty good ways down the line.”

  The taller structure, which would be built near the existing tower, would allow air traffic controllers to see all the airport’s taxiways, Johnson said.

  Now, controllers will have to use a camera to keep an eye on planes moving along the taxiway to the new runway.

• Plan to build a viewing area so the public can watch planes take off and land. It could be constructed along Bryan Boulevard, Burgess Road  or Old Oak Ridge Road .

“We’re working on it,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, we would like to have something by the end of this year.”

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com