Grant to Fund Airport Upgrade – Tri-Valley Herald, CA
TRACY — The city will use a $450,000 federal grant to upgrade the Tracy Municipal Airport in order to bring it in line with new Federal Aviation Administration regulations.
The regulations require the city to repaint taxi markings on the runway, add new signs, new distance markers, and obstruction lighting, among other things. Bringing the airport up to speed on the regulations will cost about $120,000. The rest of the money will be used for things that “we just needed to get done at the airport,” said Rod Buchanan, airport manager.
Sealing cracks and markings on the flight lines are the most expensive work planned, at an estimated cost of $280,000. The upgrading of runway safety areas — which include removing trees, repairing a taxi next to one of the hangars, and widening two turn areas –will cost about $39,000.
A mapping project will provide an overview of the Tracy Municipal Airport. This will be done as part of an update of the airport layout plan, which illustrates the city’s future plans for the airport. The project will provide workers with a high-quality (image) of the airport so when we do improvements in the future we have a good site map,” Buchanan said.
After the repairs are made, the city will institute a pavement management program, “to protect the infrastructure to the highest degree possible, and to help us continue to stay on top of (pavement maintenance) to increase its longevity,” Buchanan said. The city doesn’t expect the upgrades to get under way for about two months. The goal is to complete the work by next July. “A lot of it is outside work. It’s all actually weather dependent — we’ll be done by the end of 2004 for certain,” Buchanan said.
The city is now in the process of signing an agreementwith a consultant and a project management that will oversee the project. The city had to provide $50,000 in order to secure the grant
