$1.8 million grant goes to airport

The U.S. Department of Transportation has released a nearly $1.8 million grant to the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport for runway and taxiway improvements.

The $1,794,900 grant will go toward working on the intersection of two runways so they will drain better, reworking some ground in one runway safety area and completing the relocation of another runway, airport manager Bruce Loy said.

The airport administration is working on the design now, Loy said, and expects to have the bids for the project advertised and opened by the end of July. The money will allow the airport to lengthen one runway to resolve some safety issues associated with it being too short. Loy said the work will smooth out some bumps in the runways and will improve drainage overall.

The airport will match 5 percent of the cost of the project and will also use $1.9 million in entitlement grant funds it already has on hand and must use by the end of the year.

"The runway needs have been there a long time," Loy said. "This is the first opportunity we have had enough money to do them. It's a very good use of our funds."

The grant was announced jointly by U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., and by Missouri's two Republican senators, Christopher "Kit" Bond and Jim Talent.

"... In a rural area such as Southeast Missouri, our small airports connect us to the rest of the nation," Emerson said. "They are a vital part of our transportation infrastructure, and they must be kept in good condition."