Moriarty may become an even better stopping place for pilots landing their planes soon.

When the city got a Federal Aviation Administration grant for $66,215 for pavement rehabilitation and to update the Airport Action Plan, Mike Provine, senior civil engineer from Molzen-Corbin and Associates, went to work.

The idea that the city and Provine have is to build a cross-runway that would run north-south to compliment the current east-west runway.

Provine called the crossrunway a "safety improvement" so that the airport becomes more user friendly for pilots.

"R ight now, t he city wants to acquire property that would allow them to construct a second runway that would allow pilots to use the airport when wind conditions don't allow them to use the current runway," Provine said.

Moriarty's existing runway was purchased from the New Mexico State Land Office in the late 1990s, Provine said.