Governor Doyle announces almost $8 million in funding for General Mitchell International Airport

July 10, 2009

Madison – Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle today announced funding approval for two projects at Milwaukee County’s General Mitchell International Airport.  One is an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) award to perform runway safety area improvements.  The $2.7 million project will involve construction of a College Avenue bypass road to go around the College Avenue tunnel construction to keep vehicles clear of the runway safety area. 

“Wisconsin is taking advantage of the federal Recovery and Reinvestment Act to put people to work and invest in future growth,” Governor Doyle said.  “In Milwaukee we are making a commitment to keep the community strong and help its economy grow.”

The other project, totaling nearly $5.3 million, will fund a variety of improvements, such as installing runway guard lights, rehabilitating airfield pavement, designing a perimeter road reconfiguration, and security system fiber optic cable replacement.  The Governor’s action releases $657,750 in state funds for the project and Milwaukee County is contributing another $657,750.  The Federal Aviation Administration is providing $3,946,500.

Work on all of the projects is expected to begin in June 2009.

General Mitchell International Airport has five hard-surfaced runways that accommodate over seven million passengers and 215,000 aircraft take-offs and landings each year.  More information on Mitchell International Airport can be found at www.mitchellairport.com.

For more information, contact: 
Wendy Hottenstein, WisDOT Airport Development Engineer
(608) 261-6278, wendy.hottenstein@dot.wi.gov