On behalf of Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker, Transportation Secretary Bradley L. Mallory has announced that 13 public-use airports will receive a total of more than $1.8 million for safety and maintenance projects.
"Airports are as vital to Pennsylvania’s transportation system as bridges and highways," Mallory said. "Their contribution to a community’s economy is untold.
"Maintaining and improving Pennsylvania’s airports, large and small, is critical to moving our people and products safely and efficiently."
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has created a financing partnership with the local airports and, in some cases, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Some projects are paid with 75 percent of the total project cost coming from the state Aviation Development Fund and 25 percent from local sources.
Other projects at qualifying airports can receive 90 percent of the cost from the FAA and 5 percent each from PennDOT and a local source.
The source of the money distributed by PennDOT’s Bureau of Aviation is a percentage of the state tax levied on aviation and jet fuel.
A list of grant recipients, amounts and project descriptions follows:
o Adams County -- Gettysburg Airport, Gettysburg, $225,000, to install medium-intensity runway lighting;
o Armstrong County -- McVille Airport, Freeport, $37,500, to remove runway obstructions;
o Blair County -- Altoona-Blair County Airport, Altoona, $7,500, to conduct a pavement management study;
o Cambria County -- Johnstown-Cambria County Airport, Johnstown, $18,889, to update the airport master plan and environmental assessment and to conduct a runway safety-area feasibility study;
o Centre County -- Bellefonte Airport, Bellefonte, $26,250, to acquire fuel truck;
o Dauphin County -- Bendigo Airport, Tower City, $213,750, for phase two of runway realignment and paving project; and New Castle Municipal Airport, New Castle, $131,250, to crackseal and remark runways, taxiways and ramps, and for fuel farm improvements;
o Lehigh County -- Lehigh Valley International Airport, Allentown, $500,000, to continue phase three of a noise compatibility program;
o Luzerne County -- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, $37,500, to rehabilitate airport pavement;
o Lycoming County -- Williamsport Regional Airport, Williamsport, $240,000, to overlay runway; and Jersey Shore Airport, Jersey Shore, $75,000, for phase-one design of runway construction;
o Philadelphia County -- Northeast Philadelphia Airport, Philadelphia, $225,000, for phase-one design of a vehicle storage building; and
o Westmoreland County -- Rostraver Airport, Monongahela, $120,000, for fuel truck acquisition.
For more information, call 717/783-8800.
