Farm Show runway access concerns aviation official

RANTOUL, Ill. — A state official has raised concerns about public access to an active airport runway during a farming show held last weekend in eastern Illinois.

Susan Shea is director of the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Division of Aeronautics. She told The News-Gazette newspaper in Champaign she’s concerned that the Half Century of Progress Show allowed visitors access to an open Rantoul airport runway.

The show attracted thousands of people to the town about 20 miles north of Champaign.

Airport officials said one runway was closed but the other remained open and people were allowed to walk across it. Pedestrian-control gates would have been closed if a pilot needed to land.

Shea said the department could help show organizers set up a better layout for the next show next year.