BETHEL — The Bethel Regional Airport was one of several in Maine to receive a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration for local airport improvements, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King announced in a press release Friday afternoon.
Collins and King said that the FAA awarded $2,182,579 in competitive grant funding to nine Maine communities.
“Maine’s aviation infrastructure keeps its residents connected to the rest of the country, and the world and plays a vital role in supporting local businesses, especially in the state’s more rural regions,” Collins and King said in a joint statement. “These FAA grants will help these small airports make the necessary upgrades and developments to improve their air travel services and safety.”
The Bethel Regional Airport was one of six airports to receive a total of $301,000. The other airports were the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport in Auburn, the Belfast Municipal Airport in Belfast, the Central Maine Airport of Norridgewock in Norridgewock, the Eastern Slopes Regional Airport in Fryeburg and the Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport in Sanford.
According to the press release, the $301,000 will help the airports “maintain the structural integrity of the runway pavement and minimize debris in the path of airplanes that are taking off or landing.”
The other recipients of the FAA grant are:
* Bangor International Airport in Bangor, $795,000 to reconstruct about 1,400 linear feet of access road pavement.
* Knox County Regional Airport in Owls Head, $525,000 to expand the snow removal equipment building and $400,000 to remove obstructions in Runway 13 approach surfaces.
* Princeton Municipal Airport in Princeton, $161,579 to design and construct a runway lighting system.
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