Eastport, Wiscasset airports get $545K in fed funds to make upgrades

Courtesy / Wiscasset Municipal Airport Wiscasset Municipal Airport was one of two Maine airports to receive a total of $545,000 in the latest round of U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airport Improvement Program funding.

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By Staff

Two Maine airports will receive a total of $545,000 in the latest round of funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airport Improvement Program.

Eastport Municipal Airport was awarded $345,000 to reconstruct more than 4,000 feet of an existing runway and install 800 feet of drainage improvements necessary to adequately handle storm water runoff.

Wiscasset Municipal Airport will receive $200,000 for sealing and crack repair to 18,000 square yards of the existing terminal and based aircraft apron surface, to extend the pavement's useful life.

The funds were part of nearly $800 million of federal investment, through 383 grants nationwide, in airport infrastructure designed to strengthen safety, improve travel, generate jobs and provide many economic benefits for local communities, according to a news release.

The grants will be used for a variety of critical infrastructure and safety projects

“Just like airports around the world, Maine airports are struggling to make ends meet given the sharp downturn in passenger traffic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the Chairman of the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, said in a separate release. “These investments in Maine’s airport infrastructure will help promote job creation while improving the safety and efficiency of operations.”

Eastport Municipal Airport is the easternmost airport in the U.S.

In May 2019, it was awarded $5.25 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation for runway rehabilitation and lighting improvements.

The following month, Wiscasset Municipal Airport received $369,000 in federal funds to support the removal of tree obstructions from its Runway 7 approach surface.