Now that the state of Kansas has granted the city of Emporia nearly $1 million for improvements at the Municipal Airport, related work could start this summer.
On KVOE’s Newsmaker segment Friday, Emporia Public Works Director Dean Grant said design work will likely begin after the state fiscal year starts July 1.
Grant says he hasn’t had all the state paperwork delivered to him yet, but typically design work requires a 5-percent local match and construction needs a 10-percent local match.
The state funding helps the city expand the apron, which ultimately will lead to larger airplanes using the Municipal Airport.
Grant says previous work to expand the airport runway to just over 5,000 feet, bolstered largely by another state grant, helped to increase traffic by 10 percent between 2022 and last year. He says that’s an important step for the airport because the facility is often used by business and industry, either to determine whether to start or expand local operations or to check on existing operations. Grant also says the city isn’t “heavily” pursuing additional runway expansion at this time.
