Eight Arkansas airports awarded $4.62 million in federal grants

Eight Arkansas airports will receive $4.62 million of the $616.9 million in airport infrastructure grants from the Federal Aviation Administration.

On Friday (Aug. 24), the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the fourth increment of funding that provides 242 grants to 226 airports in 45 states and four U.S. territories and fund 408 infrastructure projects. The funding is part of the total $3.18 billion in Airport Improvement Program funding for U.S airports.

Following are the eight Arkansas airports along with the announced grant funding and the projects for which the money will support:

• Clinton Municipal Airport; $136,918; rehabilitate apron
• Drake Field in Fayetteville; $1.617 million; widen taxiway
• Hope Municipal Airport; $450,000; improve airport drainage
• Memorial Field in Hot Springs; $1.646 million; reconstruct taxiway
• Ralph C. Weiser Field in Magnolia; $213,938; improve airport drainage
• Marianna/Lee County-Steve Edwards Field in Marianna; $55,800; install airfield guidance signs, install runway vertical/visual guidance system — 18/36 — and install taxiway lighting
• Texarkana Regional Airport; $419,710; construct apron.
• Warren Municipal Airport; $81,044; install runway vertical/visual guidance system — 03/21

“The department has been investing heavily in our nation’s airport infrastructure, which will strengthen economic growth and create jobs in communities across the country,” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said. U.S. civil aviation accounts for $1.6 trillion in total economic activity and supports nearly 11 million jobs, according to a recent FAA economic analysis.

The grant money, depending on the project cost, is a combination of entitlement and discretionary funding.