Rural airports receive $6.1 million in federal grants

Ten rural Colorado airports received more than $6.1 million in competitive grants to improve runways, add lighting and improve safety.
The grants, from the U.S. Department of Transportation, include $150,000 for lighting at the Erie Municipal Airport in Weld County and $452,616 to improve wildlife perimeter fencing at the Colorado Plains Regional Airport in Washington County. The grants were announced Wednesday.
Jason Hurd, manager of the Erie Municipal Airport, said the federal money is part of a larger funding package that includes $400,000 from the Colorado Department of Transportation and another $50,000 from the Town of Erie.
Hurd said the funding will allow the small, largely private airport to add lighting for its runways for the first time. “Right now we have no lighting for our taxiway operations,” he said.