Northwest Kansas airports selected for funding

The Hays Daily News

Thirty-seven projects at public-use airports in the state have been selected for funding under the 2010 Kansas Airport Improvement Program.

In northwest Kansas, the following airports will receive funding: Norton, self-service fueling system; Osborne, airport weather observation system and aeronautical survey; and Rawlins County/Atwood, upgrade airport weather observation system and pilot controller for airfield lighting.

KDOT will contribute $3.54 million in funding for the projects and with local matching funds of approximately $2.57 million the total infrastructure investment will be $6.1 million. The projects will address maintenance, runway, facility and equipment needs at non-primary public-use airports in Kansas. These are airports in the state that are classified as having less than 10,000 passenger boarding's per year.

"In 1999, one in four airports in Kansas had a pavement condition of poor or failing," said KDOT Director of Aviation Ed Young. "Now, less than one in 20 runways in Kansas is in poor or failing condition thanks in large measure to the 244 projects conducted at 97 different airports in every part of the state in the last 10 years."

Among the 37 projects selected, there are 18 maintenance projects, 17 equipment projects, one geometric project and one planning project.

According to Young, nearly 8 percent of the program's allocation is spent on crack seal, joint repair and other basic maintenance projects.