Winchester Regional Airport receives design grant

By Sally Voth svoth@nvdaily.com

The Winchester Regional Airport has been awarded a $190,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of its long-range rehabilitation project.

The grant is to help rehabilitate an apron at the site, according to a transportation department news release.

"It's [for] the design phase for the rehabilitation and replacement of the south apron," airport manager and executive director Serena "Renny" Manuel said Thursday afternoon.

Planes are parked on the asphalt apron, she explained. Ninety percent of the funding is federal, 8 percent from the Virginia Department of Aviation and the remainder from the jurisdictions making up the airport authority: Frederick, Clarke, Warren and Shenandoah counties and the city of Winchester, Manuel said.

Delta Airport Consultants will design the project, she said. The cost of the design is just under $400,000, and once the design is done, a construction cost will be clearer, Manuel said.

It's all part of a multi-year project to improve airport safety, Manuel said. The airport's master plan was updated in 2005, she said.

"Basically, [it] brings the entire airport up to meet [Federal Aviation Administration] safety and design standards to enhance and facilitate business aircraft and industry that are currently using the airport, and to attract new business and industry to the region," Manuel said.

An $8 million project to rehabilitate the runway and upgrade airfield lighting was recently completed, she said.

The taxiway that runs parallel to the runway needs to be relocated 100 feet from the runway to meet FAA standards of 400 feet between the two paths, according to Manuel.