KDOT announces Kansas airport improvement projects

Transportation Secretary Richard Carlson announces KAIP grant recipients at KSU Polytechnic Campus at Salina Municipal Airport. 

Topeka – Twenty-six airports have been selected for Kansas Airport Improvement Program
funding to repair or improve facilities and enhance air ambulance access.

The projects selected for this Kansas Department of Transportation program will receive a combined total of just over $4 million in fiscal year 2018. KAIP requires airport sponsors to share in the project costs by paying a minimum of five percent of the total project costs up to a maximum of 50 percent, depending on project category (such as modernization, equipment, design, and preservation). The combined total value of the approved projects is estimated at $4.45 million.

Transportation Secretary Richard Carlson selected the new KAIP projects to improve airports in the State of Kansas. “These projects will help us make critical air services available to more Kansans all across the state,” said Secretary Carlson. “Improvements currently underway at rural airports will help ensure that 93 percent of our population has air ambulance access.”

KAIP receives $5 million annually through the T-WORKS transportation program. KDOT’s Division of Aviation, which manages the program, considered 123 applications for projects totaling $31.7 million.

“The aviation industry and general aviation are key economic engines in the State of Kansas,” pointed out KDOT Director of Aviation, Merrill Atwater. “The KAIP program helps us continue building that growth to maintain aviation as an important part of the Kansas economy, which results in jobs for its residents.”

“The applications we receive each year for KAIP projects are very competitive, indicating the value local officials attach to maintaining and developing their airports,” said State Aviation Planner Greg Chenoweth.  “KAIP allows us to advance the effectiveness of our airport system on a state-wide basis.”

KDOT Director of Aviation, Merrill Atwater (left) and Secretary of Transportation Richard Carlson (second from the left) presented representatives of the KSU Polytechnic Campus with a KAIP grant yesterday. Photo credit: Kansas State Polytechnic Communications and Marketing 

Communities selected for funding and the amount requested include:

Abilene –  pavement maintenance and repair, $96,525

Augusta – pavement maintenance and repair, $76,500

Baldwin City – runway drainage repair, $43,055

Chanute – design of pavement repair, $9,500

Colby – pavement maintenance and repair, $49,750

Dodge City – ADA accessible aircraft boarding ramp, $28,690

Eureka -- pavement maintenance and repair, $47,295

Great Bend – airfield lighting improvements, $34,545

Greensburg – grading and drainage for new airport, $1,080,000

Herington – self serve fuel system upgrade, $41,225

Hutchinson -- pavement maintenance and repair, $315,000

Independence – self serve fuel system upgrade, $29,750

Jetmore – on-site weather reporting system, $135,000

Kingman – on-site weather reporting system upgrade, $28,800

Lawrence – pavement repair, $133,560

Lincoln – grading and drainage for new airport, $720,000

Lucas -- pavement maintenance and repair and development planning, $132,270

Mankato -- pavement maintenance and repair, $117,000

McPherson – turf runway rehabilitation, $60,750

Parsons – design of airfield maintenance and repair, $9,500

Rose Hill – pavement maintenance and repair, $7,200

Salina – design and pavement maintenance and repair, $428,990

St. Francis – airfield safety equipment replacement, $37,800

Syracuse – pavement maintenance and repair, $27,000

Wellington – design pavement maintenance and repair, $71,250

Winfield / Arkansas City -- pavement maintenance and repair, $267,650