With proposed improvements to the Mackinac Island Airport approved by federal and state regulators last week, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission will now seek up to $5 million in federal funding. It will also seek renewal of a waiver that allows the Commission to avoid cutting trees near the airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Michigan Department of Transportation's Bureau of Aeronautics approved the Commission's revised airport layout plan to remove a hump in the middle of the runway to improve pilot visibility, move the runway 65 feet away from the fence on the west side of the of the area to meet federal safety rules, and fill sinkholes that have appeared at the airport over the past five years.

Jason Clark of URS engineering corporation in Grand Rapids, overseeing the engineering for the airport rehabilitation, said the concern isn't whether the project will receive federal funding.

"It's just a matter of how much funding this project will receive," Mr. Clark told The St. Ignace News Tuesday, December 23. "Because it is on an island, and because of the Island's unique regulations about use of vehicles and time frames of when construction can be conducted, it makes it a unique situation."

While the country is in economic recession, the U.S. Congress is pondering how much money to make available in a reauthorization bill for improvements to aviation facilities throughout the country.

By March, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission ought to know how much funding it will receive for its airport rehabilitation project, said Mr. Clark.

"Both the FAA and Bureau of Aeronautics agreed the Island airport project is a high priority because the need for fixing the safety issues is great," he said.

Mr. Clark has worked closely with the Commission to revise the airport's five-year layout plan, which hasn't been revised for 20 years.

"Because money is tight, and because we are worried that we won't be able to get all what we want to do before winter sets in, we're planning to phase in the paving part of the project," he said. "We won't repave the taxiway or the approach of the runway at this time. We'll phase it in over the next three to five years."

The runway, first paved in the 1960s, has not been repaved since 1988.

Plans are to close the airport just after Labor Day 2010 for construction, which is expected to last up to 2.5 months.

The Commission believes the months after Labor Day are the quietest time of the year for tourism and airport traffic, and ferry boat service from Mackinaw City and St. Ignace still is operating at that time. During construction, air passengers will need to land at mainland airports and take a ferry to the Island.

Coast Guard rescue helicopters and boats will be relied on for emergency medical evacuations while the airport is closed, said Phil Porter, State Park director.

Mr. Clark said the plan is to complete the rehabilitation project before boat service is shut down for the winter.

The Commission is seeking a waiver from FAA side slope regulations that require a certain amount of open space between the runway and natural or manmade objects near it that can affect lift-off and landing approaches.

In the case of the Island airport, that would involve a large section of trees between the airport and Annex Road.

The State Park owns more than 80% of land on the Island, and has been committed to preserving and protecting its forests, said Mr. Porter.

"Without that waiver, it would drastically change the landscape in that area," said Mr. Porter, who added that he is confident the waiver will be renewed, just as it has many times in the past.

A December 18 public hearing at the Island airport terminal was attended by about a dozen people, whose main concerns were safety issues that the proposed repairs would resolve, and the closing of the airport while construction is underway, as reported in The St. Ignace News December 25.