COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Construction started Tuesday on the replacement of Runway 422 at the Branch County Memorial Airport.
After being closed Tuesday, the airport will reopen Wednesday. Branch County County Administrator Bud Norman says the airport will be closed off and on for eight days between Thursday and September 26. The dates for the work may change due to weather.
The rehabilitation of the 3,500 foot runway is part of a project that will include the installation of taxiway lighting.
The project’s estimated cost of $1,392,000 will be shared by federal, state and local units of government under a block grant program.
The federal part of the project comes to over $1.2 million or about 87 percent. The state share would be about $67,000.
The county share comes out to about $70,000. County and airport officials say the cost of the local portion went up because the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Office of Aeronautics delayed the bid letting process due to internal administration issues and the bad weather last winter.
