Airport project scrapped

A taxiway paving project at Glacier Park International Airport has been scrapped along with dozens of other projects at airports across the country because Congress hasn’t passed legislation to fully fund the Federal Aviation Administration.

There were about 50 jobs attached to the local $6.8 million taxiway project along with additional subcontractor employment, said Cindi Martin, director for Glacier Park International.

“We had already bidded and awarded the contract and most of that cash would have stayed in the local economy, so there is an economic impact,” Martin said.

The main contract was awarded to Knife River in April, but there were multiple subcontractors that would have been involved with this summer’s work.

The FAA’s operating authority expired last Friday at midnight, causing a partial agency shutdown, but the “writing was on the wall” before then that the agency’s grant funding program for this year was in jeopardy because of a congressional standoff over funding extensions, Martin said.

The FAA’s Airport Improvement Program approved a $5 million discretionary grant and a $1.8 million entitlement grant for the taxiway project, and the expectation was that those grants would be awarded by June 1.

But that didn’t happen, and with a short construction season the project could not be finished this year unless it got under way in August, Martin said.

It is possible to pursue the funding again in the future, but the airport would have to compete again with other airport projects, many of which also have been suspended.

“There are stories like this across the country,” said Martin, adding that prudent management by the airport’s board has ensured the completion of major improvements at the airport, such as a runway overhaul that was done in 2009.

“Most of the big projects at this airport are done,” she said. “We can continue to afford to maintain this airport in a safe and secure manner ... The taxiway is not in critical condition. It’s just something that needs to be done. So we’re not in a panic here with that pavement.”

The taxiway was considered a sister project to the runway work, which required the airport to be closed three days a week in August 2009.

This year’s work was not expected to cause any down time for passengers, and Martin said the FAA’s partial shutdown is not affecting airport operations.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.