Runway funds for BIA slashed $10 million request cut by half

BANGOR – The final version of a $318 billion defense bill that passed both houses of Congress Thursday included only $5 million to reconstruct the Bangor International Airport runway – half of the $10 million approved last week by the Senate.

Despite the reduction, airport officials said Thursday that the project could proceed as scheduled.

The Senate defense bill had included $10 million toward the $20 million restoration of the 11,440-foot-long airstrip, one of the longest runways east of the Mississippi. However, $5 million was knocked out of the runway project while the bill made its way though a conference committee this week.

The matching $10 million was to be provided through the Federal Aviation Administration and state and local funding. But with the reduction in the defense budget, the FAA is likely only to contribute a matching $5 million.

City officials on Thursday were disappointed that the relatively small appropriation by Capitol Hill standards didn’t make it out of committee, but were grateful for the federal money.

“We’re fortunate to have the $5 million, and we expect the entire delegation to assist in funding the remainder of the project next year,” said Lee Umphrey, the city’s intergovernmental affairs coordinator.

Umphrey praised the delegation’s work on the project, singling out Sen. Susan Collins for pushing the bill by petitioning the senior Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee to add the runway plan as an amendment.

Felicia Knight, Collins’ press secretary, said Thursday that the project’s exclusion in the House bill made it difficult to keep the full Senate funding in the final version, which is expected to be signed by the president in coming weeks.

A spokesman for Sen. Olympia Snowe, who supported the $10 million Senate appropriation, said the remainder of the runway funding should be easier to secure now that the initial funding has been appropriated.

“In general, I can tell you that the big battle is the initial funding,” Snowe press secretary Dave Lackey said.

Airport officials are hoping so.

BIA director Rebecca Hupp said Thursday that the $20 million, three-year project would proceed as scheduled, despite the reduction in federal funding.

“I’m confident that we’ll see the second half of the funding and the there’s nothing to inhibit the progress of the project in any way,” she said, noting that the project is scheduled to begin in spring of 2002.

The runway’s connection with the Maine National Guard prompted the project’s addition to the defense appropriations bill, city officials said. Built in 1958, the runway serves the giant KC-135 tankers of the 101st Air Refueling Wing of the Maine Air National Guard as well as commercial aircraft.

Under the plan, the runway’s width would be reduced from 300 feet to 200 feet – still wider than the standard 150-foot-wide runway, Hupp said. The project also will include upgrades to runway lighting and navigational aides for aircraft.

Much of the work would take place between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. to accommodate air traffic during the construction. Commercial air traffic will not be affected, Hupp said.

Because of its size, BIA’s concrete runway is designated as an emergency landing point for the space shuttle.