LIHU‘E — Ongoing projects at Lihu‘e Airport have gotten funding boosts in recent weeks, following announcements of state and federal disbursements.
State legislators announced the release of $5,000 in capital improvement project monies in early December. The amount finances plans for the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation Airports Division’s $1.5 million update to Lihu‘e Airport’s 1989 master plan and 1991 noise exposure map.
“These CIP monies are critical … We want to thank our legislative colleagues and the Governor for their support,” Senate President Ronald Kouchi (Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau) and Rep. James Tokioka (Wailua Homesteads, Hanama‘ulu, Lihu‘e, Puhi, Old Koloa Town and ‘Oma‘o) said in a release.
The master plan studies the airport’s short, intermediate and long-term needs and develops plans to meet aviation demand that consider potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts, according to its official website. It is estimated to reach completion this month.
The noise exposure map visualizes average day-and-night sound level values in the vicinity of the airport.
It is with the Federal Aviation Administration for review and approval, HDOT spokesperson Shelly Kunishige told The Garden Island this week.
The NEM is expected to be made available for public comment online at lihmasterplan.com sometime early this year.
Later in December, the FAA announced Lihu‘e Airport will get nearly $5.9 million in the first of five annual funding rounds Hawai‘i airports will receive under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“With this new funding, urban, regional and rural airports across the county now can get to work on projects that have waited for years, modernizing their infrastructure and building a better America,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a press release.
Hawai‘i’s 12 airports are set to receive an estimated $49.3 million in total, this year.
“It will pay for the shovel-ready projects we already have in the works for LIH,” Kunishige said.
Lihu‘e Airport’s projects for Fiscal Year 2022 currently include ticket lobby improvements and perimeter fence replacement.
Contractor Creative Partition Systems completed the lobby initiative this December, having bid $7,959,207. The fencing work, conducted by the Royal Contracting Co. for $1,079,000, is slated for completion this July.
Beyond Kaua‘i, HDOT is considering using the funds authorized under IIJA for a slew of airfield safety projects, including paving and lighting system upgrades, runway and taxiway shoulder rehabilitation at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu and runway reconstruction at Kahului Airport on Maui.
“In short, IIJA funding will allow HDOT Airports Division to accelerate capital projects, as well as evaluate projects that had to be deferred, in order to keep state airport facilities in ideal conditions,” Kunishige said.
The FAA estimates the country’s backlog of airport modernization and safety projects totals $43.6 billion.
Completed, ongoing and planned airport improvements throughout Hawai‘i can be viewed online at hawaiiairportsmodernization.com.
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Scott Yunker, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
