(Lincoln, NE) -- The Federal Aviation Administration is awarding Nebraska millions of dollars to make improvements to airports in the state.
The Nebraska Department of Transportation says $17,362,302 million in federal grants were awarded to seven Nebraska airports, in Ainsworth, Burwell, Norfolk, North Platte, Scottsbluff, Sidney and Wayne. This second round of FY 2023 Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants included $12,132,000 to rehabilitate the runway at Scottsbluff’s Western Nebraska Regional/ William B. Heilig Field and $2.939,220 to reconstruct the taxiway at the North Platte Regional/Lee Bird Field.
AIP grants will provide a portion of funding to build new hangars at four airports:
- Ainsworth Regional - $553,980
- Burwell Cram Field - $235,540
- Sidney Municipal/Lloyd W. Carr Field - $451,562
- Wayne Municipal/Stan Morris Field - $450,000
The balance is being funded with other federal grants and local funds. Additional funding included $600,000 to the Norfolk Regional/Karl Stefan Memorial Field to install runway lighting, airfield guidance signs and runway vertical/visual guidance system.
“We’re happy to be able to partner with the FAA Central Region in Kansas City to get this essential grant funding to our airports,” said Ann Richart, AAE, Director of the Aeronautics Division of NDOT. Our partnership includes lining up the appropriate grant funding, assisting the sponsor (airport) in applying for the grant, and working with the FAA to send grant funds to the airport as their project progresses. NDOT looks forward to working with the FAA in the future to ensure that our communities will be able to make maximum use of these federal grant funds. We also want to thank our members of Congress for their support.”