U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine recently announced that nine Virginia airports will receive $18,826,746 in funds from the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to help enhance new and existing infrastructure. The airports receiving funding serve the following Virginia counties: Accomack, Brunswick, Campbell, Franklin, Frederick, Hanover, Mecklenburg, Suffolk, Washington, and Wise.
“This funding is essential to help Virginia’s airports make necessary upgrades to infrastructure,” said the Senators. “These grants will help our local airports improve travel and plan for future operations and growth.”
Airports and grant amounts are listed below:
· Virginia Highlands Airport (Washington County) – $5,924,328. This grant will help construct a 1,029 foot runway extension to allow Runway 06/24 to meet the operational needs of the airport, specifically funding drainage improvements necessary to adequately handle storm water runoff associated with the extension of Runway 06/24.
· Suffolk Executive Airport – $3,756,000. This grant will fund the rehabilitation of the runway’s lighting.
· Hanover County Municipal Airport – $2,773,436. This grant will help construct a 29,200 square yard apron on the east side of the airport. The new apron will increase parking capacity for transient and based aircraft.
· Mecklenburg-Brunswick Regional Airport – $2,666,151. This grant will fund the rehabilitation of 1,200 feet of the existing t-hangar taxiway pavement that requires rehabilitation to ensure safe airfield operations and the rehabilitation of 8,000 square yards of the existing terminal apron to maintain the structural integrity of the pavement.
· Franklin Municipal-John Beverly Rose Airport – $1,736,100. This grant will help fund a 1,250-foot extension of the parallel taxiway and an additional 570 feet for the connector taxiways. This project will enhance safety by eliminating the need for aircraft to back-taxi on the runway.
· Lynchburg Regional Airport – $1,111,500.00. This grant will fund the partial rehabilitation of the current Taxiway B and Taxiway G lighting system that has reached the end of its useful life and requires rehabilitation to enhance safe airfield operations during low visibility conditions.
· Accomack County Airport – $376,131. This grant will help fund the rehabilitation of 5,000 feet of Runway 3/21 to maintain the structural integrity of the pavement and to minimize foreign object debris and will fund the rehabilitation of the current Runway 3/21 lighting system that has reached the end of its useful life and requires rehabilitation to meet FAA standards.
· Winchester Regional Airport – $316,600. This grant will help fund the relocation of 5,500 feet of Taxiway A to assist the airport in meeting design standards, will provide funding for the acquisition of 0.52 acres of land adjacent to the existing airport property, will fund the removal of tree obstructions in the Runway 14 approach surface, and will provide funding for the removal of 6 acres of tree obstructions.
· Lonesome Pine Airport (Wise County) – $166,500. This grant will fund an update to the existing airport master plan study to show current and future needs of the airport.
This funding was granted through the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program (AIP), a program that provides grants for the planning and development of public-use airports that are significant to national air transportation.
-Submitted by Kevin Hall
