Funding secured for airport improvements

The Libby Airport is set to receive around $400,000 worth of safety upgrades this summer with the bulk of the funding coming from Federal Aviation Administration grant dollars.

The project, which has been approved by the FAA and is set to go out for bids, includes the installation of taxiway lighting along with the removal of trees at both ends of the runway.

The total project is budgeted at $401,000, with $250,000 earmarked for the installation of lighting and $50,000 for tree removal. Engineering adds another $96,000 to the total, along with $5,000 in administrative costs.

The FAA will cover 90 percent of the total project cost, with county funds picking up the remainder.

The 5,000-foot runway is paralleled by a taxiway along its entire length. The taxiway connects to the runway at the center and at both ends. The taxiway is currently marked mainly by reflectors, with lighting only in the most heavily used portion in the center, said Lincoln County Airport Board chairman Bill Caldwell.

“Most light aircraft will land and taxi off at the center,” Caldwell said. “They don’t require the whole runway.”

The tree removal is “a periodic maintenance thing,” Caldwell said.

“There are a number of trees that are encroaching into the approach zone,” Caldwell said. “This will lower the level of those trees and improve safety, particularly at night when you can’t see those trees.”

The funding for the project comes from FAA grant money the county receives on an annual basis for the airports in Libby and Eureka. The grants are typically combined in a pool to fund maintenance and improvement projects for one airport each year.

“These are huge dollar outlays that we wouldn’t be able to afford on our own hook,” Caldwell said.

Other FAA-funded projects at the Libby Airport in recent years have included installation of a new fuel system, improvements to runway lighting and runway painting, Caldwell said.