Alabama's airport infrastructure is getting a major cash infusion, with state officials awarding more than $12 million in grants to public-use airports stretching from the Gulf Coast to the Tennessee Valley. The money will fund everything from new hangars and taxilanes to a seawall project that could eventually let a Mobile County runway grow longer.
The Alabama Department of Transportation has awarded $12,099,563 in state grants through its Alabama Airport Improvement Funding Program, according to ALDOT. When combined with federal dollars and local airport contributions, the total project funding balloons to $73,071,980, including $53,635,243 in federal funding and $7,337,174 in airport contributions, per the agency. The program is designed to give public-use airports financial assistance and technical support for planning, construction and maintenance work, ALDOT notes.
According to WBRC, the grants support projects at public-use airports statewide, with projects ranging from runway and taxiway rehabilitation to apron improvements, pavement maintenance, airfield lighting and drainage, hangar construction, land acquisition and equipment purchases. Frank Farmer, chief of ALDOT's Aeronautics Bureau, framed the investment as a matter of everyday reliability for communities across the state. “Alabama's airports support local businesses, emergency response and travel in communities across the state,” Farmer said, per ALDOT.
South Alabama Projects Target Hangars and a Runway-Extending Seawall
In Baldwin County, Bay Minette Municipal Airport is slated to receive $157,895 for construction and extension of a taxi lane serving hangars, according to WPMI NBC 15. Atmore Municipal Airport has two projects totaling $271,654 covering pavement maintenance on the east apron and construction of a six-unit hangar, the station reports.
Further north in Conecuh County, Evergreen Regional Airport is set to receive a combined $3.05 million for an apron expansion and rehabilitation of a parallel taxiway, per the same report. And in Mobile County, Jeremiah Denton Airport is slated for $896,637 to build 1,500 feet of seawall that would allow Runway 12/30 to be extended, the station notes.
Funding Spans the State, From Cullman to Craig Field
Funding Spans the State, From Cullman to Craig Field
Cullman Regional Airport-Folsom Field has a $279,267 taxiway pavement project, while Guntersville Municipal Airport is slated for a runway expansion.
In north Alabama, Huntsville International-Carl T. Jones Airport has a $1.9 million grant for a snow-removal equipment facility. Nearby Huntsville Executive Airport, Tom Sharp, Jr. Field, is set for an environmental study and taxiway rehabilitation project totaling $877,301. Scottsboro Municipal Airport has previously received funding for master-plan work.
Airport Projects Span a Range of Sizes
Bigger-ticket projects also dot the list, including a combined reconstruction of the aircraft rescue and firefighting building and ARFF vehicle acquisition at Mobile International Airport, and Southwest Alabama Regional Airport's fifth construction phase, which includes runway, taxiway and apron design work along with additional land acquisition for future development. At Mobile International Airport, work also includes the ARFF building and vehicles, as well as pavement maintenance.
Elsewhere, Enterprise Municipal Airport's runway extension and parallel taxiway work totals $6,862,654. Chilton County Airport also has funding for runway-extension work.
