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US Transportation Department awards $10M to 3 Missouri airports

Three Missouri airports will receive federal funding as part of a massive U.S. Department of Transportation infrastructure investment announced Friday. 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said Missouri would receive $10.2 million — out of the nationwide $485 million investment — for three airports. 

Lee C. Fine Memorial Airport in Brumley was granted $4 million to reconstruct an apron, which is a section used for loading, unloading, refueling, conducting maintenance work, and more on airplanes. 

Additionally, Kirksville Regional Airport was granted $3.3 million to rehabilitate a runway and a taxiway; Malden Regional Airport received $2.9 million to reconstruct a runway. 

“We are grateful for these additional funds, which will enable the completion of needed improvements that would not have been possible until sometime in the future. These projects will enhance safety at the selected airports,” Amy Ludwig, Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) administrator of aviation, told The Missouri Times.

“Rural airports are incredibly important to the economic viability of communities across my district,” U.S. Congressman Sam Graves said in a statement. “The Airport Improvement Program plays a vital role in maintaining the continued existence of rural airports and I’m thrilled to see Kirksville receive this important funding.”

Missouri has been appropriated more than $51.4 million through the federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) and a supplemental discretionary grant for the 2019 fiscal year. Airports in Bowling Green, Memphis, and Tarkio received AIP funding earlier this year. 

“The robust economy is enabling more passengers to travel by air so this administration is investing billions of dollars in America’s airports which will address safer airport operations, fewer airport delays, and greater ease of travel for air travelers,” Chao, who has served in the Cabinet position since early 2017, said in a statement. 

There are almost 500 aviation facilities in Missouri, including 107 which are eligible for funding through MoDOT. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation said it has invested $10.8 billion in more than 2,000 airports across the country since January 2017.