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I came across this announcement on the first flight on Dublin Airport's new runway and was struck by something in the photo I had not seen before.

The traditionally parallel taxiway makes a dogleg at the scissor intersecting runway such that the taxiway intersection is at 90 degrees. It intuitively certainly seems like a much safer design in general and than some of the other EIDW intersections which are explicitly called out in the Airport Diagram (below) as a Hot Spot for Runway Incursions.

A quick search for "taxiway cross-runway design" had many results, including references to "Problematic Taxiway Geometry (PTG)", in FAA presentation, "FAA Office of Airport Safety and Standards, Pan American Regional Aviation, Safety Team (PA-RAST), Airport and Runway Safety and Technology, which states "Aligned taxiway (Prohibited)" page 8, and FAA presentation "Runway Safety Initiatives", page 16, etc.

When was the "Aligned Taxiway" prohibited? What Human Factors led to that design (ie: improved visibility from the cockpit, enhanced situation awareness, procedural clarity, etc.)? References to decision backing material appreciated.

The scissor intersecting runway configuration is very common in the USA and globally, even at tiny airports, like MINOT (MOT), N. Dakota, more so than the "V" alignment for a second runway.

Does this only apply to new construction or is there an expectation of retrofitting existing airports (eg: KBOS, where space allows)? Are there other operational examples in place? What is the experience of any pilots navigating such a configuration? Does this lead to a new risk of pilots proceeding straight at the dogleg into the grass? Or worse if pilot mistakes taxiway for runway on approach ?

Dublin Airport North Runway

(image retrieved from article and resized)

EIDW / DUB Airport diagram

(image retrieved from opennav.com)

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I suspect this taxiway configuration for the new construction was done, not so much because older designs are prohibited or frowned upon, but to accommodate the existing airport infrastructure as much as possible while reducing runway incursion events. The new airport taxi way joins up with golf taxi way to runway 16. A straight away taxiway could work here, but also requires a relocation of the ILS and DME equipment for runway 16 to a new position on the field. A small dog leg like that would provide ease of taxiing to cross runway 16 at a minimal increase in cost.

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