Hare announces $3.9M grant for Q-C airport

Quad City Times
June 24, 2010
By: Jennifer DeWitt

The Quad-City International Airport has received a $3.9 million federal grant for its runway rehabilitation project, it was announced Thursday.

The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airport Improvement Program, which helps airports in planning, development of projects that increase airport capacity and other facility improvements.

Quad-City International has launched a $32 million runway rehabilitation project that eventually will rehabilitate its main Runway 9-27. The multi-year project requires building a temporary runway in order to close down all the airport’s three runways for rehabilitation. Part of the reconstruction includes rebuilding the bull’s-eye — the place where all three runways intersect.

Bruce Carter, airport director of aviation, said the grant is much appreciated.

“Once again, we are very pleased with the amount of federal funds that are coming to our airport for the reconstruction of the Runway 9-27 rehabilitation project that will take place in 2011,” he said in a news release.

“Over the last several years, our legislators out of Washington, D.C., have worked very hard in securing federal funds for our major capital improvements. We look forward to receiving more federal funds as these airport projects continue into the future.”
Construction has begun on the temporary runway, which will serve as the airport’s sole runway next year between May and October. Once the main runways are rebuilt, it will become a taxiway.

“This grant will allow the Quad-City Airport to improve its runway so it can safely meet the increasing demand for air service,” said U.S. Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the funding is in addition to $3.7 million released for the project through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and $487,000 secured by Durbin in the 2009 Transportation Appropriations bill. The DOT has invested more than $8 million in the runway reconstruction project in the last two years, he said.