Greeley-Weld airport gets federal grant to rehab runway

GREELEY — The Greeley-Weld County Airport will receive a $5,863,182 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for runway rehabilitation, it was announced Wednesday.

The announcement of the grant to complete the $6.514 million project came in a media release from the office of U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo.

“I’m pleased the Greeley-Weld County Airport will receive over $5 million for infrastructure improvements,” Gardner said in the release. “It’s important the federal government provides the necessary resources to our local governments so they can best serve our communities.”

SPONSORED CONTENT

Federal District Court Rules Corporate Transparency Act Unconstitutional . . . But Most Small Businesses Must Still Comply

Lyons Gaddis Real Estate and Business Attorney Cameron Grant shares important details of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).

Airport manager Gary Cyr said the money would be used for rehabilitation of the airport’s 10,000-foot north-south runway and its associated taxiways and run-up areas at its north and south ends. The runway was built in 2000, and Cyr said the Federal Aviation Administration normally calls for rehab work after 15 years.

The federal money supplements $250,000 from the state Division of Aeronautics and $401,000 from the airport’s own capital funds, Cyr said.

Henderson-based Asphalt Specialties Co. “will mill up two inches of asphalt and put three inches back down,” Cyr said.

He said he expected the contractor to begin crushing aggregate next spring and that the start of work “may be around the first of June to avoid early rain — but probably sometime between May and August.”

The airport has two runways, and Cyr said its east-west runway wouldn’t be affected while the north-south runway is shut down for rehabilitation.

Greeley-Weld County Airport handles between 60,000 and 80,000 takeoffs and landings a year, Cyr said. A total of 225 aircraft are based there, including those from four corporate entities — JBS USA, Hensel Phelps Construction Co., Richmark Holdings and Scott Bell Aviation.

According to a 2013 study, the airport has an economic output of $94.1 million each year and accounts for 672 jobs.