U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley’s office announced that Bend Municipal Airport will receive $3,425,000 in FAA grant funds. This grant will fund 95 percent of the estimated $3.6 million project cost to relocate/reconstruct the West Side parallel Taxiway A. The remaining five percent of project costs will come from local funds.
“This grant will improve aviation infrastructure in Central Oregon and create real jobs for those in the struggling construction industry,” Merkley said. “Infrastructure investments like repairing our airports are key to getting our economy back on track.”
Taxiway A was constructed in 1966, and, after 45 years of continuous service, it has reached the end of its useful life. To meet current FAA design standards, parallel Taxiway A will be moved to the west and widened. This will provide the minimum required separation from the runway, increasing both safety and accessibility. Project construction is expected to be completed in the summer of 2012.
After the construction of the new runway was completed in 2008, a matching parallel taxiway on the east side of the runway was completed in the spring of 2011. With the reconstruction of Taxiway A, the majority of asphalt more than three years old, with the exception of the aircraft parking areas, will have been replaced.
The modernization and updating of the airport in the last several years ensures that Bend is served by a state of the art general aviation airport with the highest levels of safety and serviceability to support a growing economy.
