By BRAD ERICKSON
Mount Hawley, Pekin Municipal and Galesburg Municipal are part of $9 million investment program
PEORIA —Mount Hawley Airport and the Galesburg and Pekin municipal airports are part of a $9 million capital investment program announced Wednesday by the governor’s office.
– Mount Hawley will receive $369,000 to rehabilitate the taxiways around the T-hangars that store planes. A $41,000 local match raises the project total to $410,000.
“It’s a pretty big deal for Mount Hawley,” said Peoria airport director Gene Olson. “In the last couple of years we put a whole bunch of money into the structure of the hangars. This goes hand in hand with that. This preserves the quality of the pavement.”
Although the taxiways are not unsafe, “it’s basically the worse pavement at the airport,” Olson said. Peoria Aviation, the airport’s fixed-based operator, and other tenants have identified the project as a priority.
“Most of the engineering is done, and we’ll proceed this construction season,” Olson said.
– Pekin Municipal Airport will receive $252,000 to resurface the west ramp where planes are parked. A $28,000 local match raises the project total to $280,000.
It’s part of a federally funded project, “and by using state and local money we can get it all knocked out at once. In the long run, that’s usually cheaper than doing it in phases,” said airport manager Clayton Stambaugh.
Stambaugh said the engineering phase is starting, and he hopes the resurfacing can be done in 2014.
– Galesburg Municipal Airport will receive $77,400 to repair and replace pavement in front of the large hangar building used by Jet Air, the airport’s fixed-base operator. An $8,600 local match raises the project total to $86,000.
“We hope to get it all done this year,” said Larry Cox, the airport manager and city’s public works director.
The three airports are among 19 statewide sharing in the $9 million program, funded by an additional $7.3 million from Gov. Pat Quinn’s Illinois Jobs Now capital program and local matches totaling $1.6 million.
“Maintaining and improving Illinois’ aviation infrastructure is vitally important to meeting the needs of travelers and small businesses and ensuring the safety of airport workers,” Quinn said in a news release.