Feb 19, 2020

Hays, NW Kan. airports awarded federal grants for improvements

Posted Feb 19, 2020 12:25 PM
Chao
Chao

USDOT

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced today that the U.S. Department of Transportation will award $20.05 million in airport safety and infrastructure grants to 27 airports in Kansas. This investment in Kansas’ airports is part of a $520.5 million national investment in America’s airports that was announced today by Secretary Chao.

“This $520.5 million in federal support to airports across the country will help to keep our nation’s airports in good shape and make air travel a better experience for passengers,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao.

With this announcement, the Trump Administration has invested a historic $11.42 billion in more than two thousand American airports across the United States for safety and infrastructure improvements since January 2017.

The grants to airports in Kansas include the following awards:

  1. $306,000 to Augusta Municipal Airport for runway reconstruction.
  2. $450,000 to Cimarron Municipal Airport for taxiway and apron reconstruction.
  3. $153,375 to Shalz Field in Colby to update the Airport Master Plan.
  4. $567,000 to Blosser Municipal Airport in Concordia for taxiway lighting work and to seal taxiway pavement.
  5. $393,078 to Captain Jack Thomas Memorial Airport in El Dorado to install a runway guidance system and for runway lighting construction.
  6. $180,993 to Emporia Municipal Airport to acquire land for aircraft approaches.
  7. $1.73 million to Garden City Regional Airport for runway rehabilitation and to install runway incursion markings.
  8. $600,000 to Gardner Municipal Airport to acquire land for aircraft approaches.
  9. $1.44 million to Hays Regional Airport to reconstruct runway lighting and airfield guidance signs and to install visual guidance systems.
  10. $220,500 to Clyde Cessna Field in Kingman for runway pavement sealing.
  11. $3.61 million to Lawrence Municipal Airport for runway rehabilitation.
  12. $5.47 million to Mark Hoard Memorial Airport in Leoti for runway reconstruction and to install airport beacons, NAVAIDS, taxiway lighting and visual guidance systems.
  13. $150,000 to Lyons-Rice County Municipal Airport to update the Airport Master Plan.
  14. $202,500 to McPherson Airport to update the Airport Master Plan.
  15. $454,639 to Meade Municipal Airport for runway lighting reconstruction and to install NAVAIDS, airfield guidance signs and visual guidance systems.
  16. $93,060 to Medicine Lodge Airport to conduct an airport-related environmental study.
  17. $91,935 to Ottawa Municipal Airport to install NAVAIDS.
  18. $466,259 to Tri-City Airport in Parsons for taxiway construction.
  19. $279,000 to Phillipsburg Municipal Airport for parking lot and access road construction.
  20. $517,500 to Russell Municipal Airport for runway and taxiway sealing.
  21. $450,000 to Cheyanne County Municipal Airport in St. Francis for runway pavement sealing.
  22. $349,200 to Rooks County Regional Airport to acquire snow removal equipment.
  23. $600,000 to Syracuse-Hamilton County Municipal Airport for hangar modifications.
  24. $225,000 to Ulysses Airport to update the Airport Master Plan.
  25. $375,567 to Colonel James Jabara Airport in Wichita to update the Airport Master Plan and for other studies.
  26. $189,000 to Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita to conduct an airport study.
  27. $494,263 to Strother Field in Winfield for taxiway rehabilitation and airport beacon reconstruction.

The Administration not only supports infrastructure through funding – it is making it possible to deliver these much-needed improvements more quickly. The Department is working hard to streamline the approval process, cut unnecessary red tape and reduce unnecessary, duplicative regulations that do not contribute to safety.  

These investments and reforms are especially timely because the U.S. economy is surging. Employers have added more than 7 million jobs since January 2017. To kick off the new decade, a robust 225,000 American jobs were added in January 2020 and the unemployment rate is still a remarkable 3.6 percent—the lowest in 50 years.

Aviation is an important part of that growth. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. civil aviation supports more than 5% of U.S. gross domestic product; $1.6 trillion in economic activity; and nearly 11 million jobs.

“America’s airports provide a gateway to the world for our citizens while at the same time delivering first impressions of the United States to visitors from abroad,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson. “It’s in our national interest to make them the crown jewel in our transportation system. The Airport Improvement Program allows us to do just that.”