Members of the state Aeronautics Commission chose to wait rather than act Tuesday on improvements proposed for South Dakota public airports next year.
They delayed the vote in case other cities submit plans by the state deadline on Friday. The next meeting is Jan. 23.
The 38 projects so far seek more than $19 million of federal grants, according to a preliminary list distributed to commissioners. They include a new general aviation access road and other work at Rapid City Regional Airport.
The project would be funded with $1,949,796 in federal grant dollars and $108,322 each from state and local sources, but it is not likely to happen until at least 2019, said Toni Broom, deputy airport director for Finance and Administration.
The road would provide cleaner and safer access to the general aviation area located north of the Airport Road intersection with Terminal Road, which takes travelers to the main airport terminal, but Broom doesn’t anticipate that project happening for perhaps two years, she said Tuesday.
“The General Aviation access road rebuild is definitely an identified project in our master plan, but it has not been scheduled yet,” Broom said.
The Aeronautics Commission agreed, however, to spend up to $50,000 for South Dakota-specific pavement standards at general-aviation airports. “We think it will be significantly less,” said Jack Dokken, program manager for the air, rail and transit office in the state Department of Transportation.
