St. Cloud Regional Airport Awarded $3.7-Million Grant

ST. CLOUD -- The St. Cloud Regional Airport has been chosen for $3.7-million in additional discretionary funding to reconstruct two of its taxiways.

Airport Director Bill Towle says they've been awarded the money in addition to their annual $1-million allotment from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the project.

Towle says this discretionary money comes through a very competitive process...

Our project competes within the Great Lakes Region for discretionary money. That means we're competing against airports like Minneapolis, Chicago, and other airports in the region. But, it's highly competitive money.

Towle says the project competed well because of the safety concerns it presented. One of the taxiways will be reconfigured to more recent safety standards, while the other taxiway will be resurfaced with concrete rather than the current asphalt surface.

The other good news is that the $4.7-million project is being 100% funded by the Federal Aviation Administration with no local share required.

Construction is expected to begin mid-summer.