Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport runway project gets $5 million

Another $5 million has been allotted to the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport runway realignment project.

Airport Director Tony Bean announced at Wednesday’s regular meeting of the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport Board that $5 million from the Federal Aviation Administration earmarked for a Port of Bellingham Airport project was transferred from the port to the runway realignment.

“If you’re not going to use it, it’s not right to let it disappear,” Bean said. “If the FAA knows you transferred money they will give you a better chance at getting discretionary money because you made sure the FAA money was used.”

The money granted from the Port of Bellingham brings the project’s total FAA grant funding to $46 million.

The project – estimated to cost $89 to $119 million – requires an 8.125 percent local match, or $7.23 million to $9.66 million. As of last week the runway realignment had received $9.1 million of that local match, and with the $46 million already granted by the FAA, the project has received a total of $55.1 million.

Bean said the $5 million from the port will help keep the runway realignment on schedule and help ensure pieces of the project aren’t deferred.

“This helps get the project done quicker and for us to move on to other projects faster,” he said. “We have to take federal money as it shows up. If you don’t get money until May it’s really tough, (but) if you get money before May it’s really good – timing makes all deals.”

While Scott Cary, senior aviation project manager at Mead and Hunt, said design work for the next year’s phase of the project is already underway, Brett Siweck, airport construction manager, said the project is slightly behind schedule due to early October rains.

Siweck said he’s received multiple bids on the construction of the parking lot expansion at the airport, one for $46,000 and another for $25,000, and a third bid is expected soon.

The expansion will be made possible by removing a hill to the northeast of the airport’s current parking lot. Dirt from the hill will be used as filler for the runway realignment project.

Bean said the hope is to have increased parking at the airport by Christmas. He said the construction should add about 142 spaces, most of which will be primarily used for employee and rental car parking so airport users can have access to the spaces nearest the terminal.

Bean said the airport is on pace to shatter its 2015 record for enplanements, as it already has seen more than 45,000 people board planes. He said October was the first month in history the airport broke 6,000 passengers coming in and out at the airport.