Governor Doyle approves $18 million project at General Mitchell International Airport

October 28, 2009

Governor Jim Doyle has approved an $18,150,000 project to perform runway safety area improvements at Milwaukee County’s General Mitchell International Airport.  The project will be funded by grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program.  The Governor’s action releases $9,460,285 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for the first phase of the project. 

For the second phase of the work, the Governor has directed that $1,086,214 in state funds be provided to match $1,086,215 in Milwaukee County funds and $6,517,286 in federal Airport Improvement Program funds. 

According to Wendy Hottenstein, airport development engineer with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, the project will construct a College Avenue tunnel to provide a clear runway safety area.  This is one of several phases to conform with the FAA’s design standards for providing proper runway safety areas off the runway ends.

Work on the project is expected to begin in the fall of 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