Oregon Public Broadcasting

Major work on the runway at Portland International Airport starts Monday.

That means it's going to be a loud summer for some people who live nearby. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

The airport has two main runways, the North and the South. They're both getting a little long-in-the-tooth, so last summer, the North was refurbished.

This summer, the airport plans to extend it so it can accommodate the largest planes.

Airport spokesman, Steve Johnson, is warning neighbors about the noise.

Steve Johnson: "We expect about the same situation that we saw last summer in terms of additional flights over the neighborhoods to the North and the South. It will be a little bit better this year because we have one month less of construction work. And we only completely close the runway for two months of that time period where last year we fully closed the runway for six months."

The third and final part of the runway improvement plan is scheduled for next summer. That's when the south runway will be refurbished.

While it's out of commission, the largest planes will be able to use the new extended north runway.