04.03.09

Durbin Announces Over $4 Million in Recovery Act Funding for Illinois Airports

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Department of Transportation has awarded $4,238,655 in grants to Illinois airports. Today’s funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will create jobs in Illinois and strengthen the region’s infrastructure to serve passengers safely and efficiently.

 

• Springfield Airport Authority: $2,448,855 in funding to reconstruct a ramp at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport. This project will create a safer operating environment for the aircraft and personnel by reducing the potential for damage to aircraft that can occur as older pavements deteriorate. Recently this ramp area has seen an increase in activity and usage, primarily by larger aircraft, and the expansion will better accommodate the current demand as well as anticipated future use.

 

• State of Illinois: $1,789,800 in funding for the Illinois State Block Grant Program. Of that funding:

? $238,000 will be used at Fairfield Municipal Airport to remove and replace the lights on the north–south runway and on the parallel taxiway to the east-west runway.

? $1,551,800 will be used at Greater Kankakee Airport to rehabilitate the south portion of the terminal apron and the taxiway from the apron to Runway 16/34.