By Christine Perez
Hillwood Properties has announced that its Fort Worth Alliance Airport has secured a $15.6 million grant for a runway expansion project. The grant increases overall FAA funding to nearly $31 million for the year, and brings the project to 80 percent of full funding needs for delivery.
The grant will be used to extend a runway on the north end of the airport by 11,000 feet.
Since the project’s inception, Fort Worth Alliance Airport has secured a total of nearly $215 million from the FAA, the Texas Department of Transportation and Tarrant County. About $30 million in funding needs remains.
The grant “brings us one step closer to realizing our master plan for Fort Worth Alliance Airport,” said Tim Ward, president of Alliance Air Services, in a statement. “The FAA understands that the extension of our runways will completely transform the role of this airport regionally and nationally. We know that there is a lot of competition for funding, so we appreciate the continued support the FAA has provided to make our vision a reality.”
Here’s additional information from a Hillwood press release:
The runway extension project for Fort Worth Alliance Airport has been in the planning and development stages since 2000 and has been a high priority for state and federal transportation officials. It will expand flight capability and enable long-haul flights to take off fully fueled under almost any weather conditions. Upon the project’s completion in 2016, both of the airport’s runways will be extended to the 11,000 feet of runway space necessary for fully loaded cargo planes to make non-stop flights to Europe or Asia.
In order for the runway extension to take place, the airport worked with TxDOT to relocate FM 156, which was originally adjacent to the airport. The successful relocation of FM 156 was completed in 2009. Similarly the airport worked with BNSF Railway to reposition its railroad mainline, which ran parallel to old FM 156. Twelve miles of new mainline track will be constructed under this phase of the project, which will commence construction in the first quarter of 2013.
Fort Worth Alliance Airport, developed in a unique public-private partnership among the FAA, the City of Fort Worth and Hillwood Properties, is the anchor of the company’s 17,000-acre, master-planned AllianceTexas community in north Fort Worth.
http://realpoints.dmagazine.com/2012/11/alliance-airport-wins-faa-grant-for-runway-expansion-project/