Elizabethtown airport gets state money for improvements

ELIZABETHTOWN, NC (WWAY) — Curtis L. Brown Jr. Field in Elizabethtown is one of 11 airports across North Carolina sharing nearly $4.7 million in state money for improvements and upgrades.

The facility will get $126,000 for site work on the new terminal building and $35,000 for paving at the terminal parking area.

“These grants will allow airports to become safer, and better serve the pilots, passengers, and businesses that use them,” Division of Aviation Director Bobby Walston said in a news release. “Airports are a critical part of our transportation system, and these projects will help improve the link between our state and national and global markets.”

The other airports received funding are:

• Ashe County: $18,112 for a runway extension, precision approach path indicator (PAPI) installation and an obstruction survey;
• Elkin Municipal: $1.3 million for runway extensions;
• Fayetteville Regional: $1,139,670 for airport improvements;
• Laurinburg-Maxton: $275,000 for replacement of the instrument landing system localizer;
• Pitt-Greenville: $1,100,070 for taxiway pavement rehabilitation;
• Richmond County: $160,373 for apron reconstruction and hangar relocation;
• Rockingham County/NC Shiloh: $266,400 for apron rehabilitation;
• Smith Reynolds (Winston-Salem): $172,000 for land acquisition and obstruction clearing;
• Statesville Regional: $12,045 for taxiway lighting rehabilitation and guidance sign installation, new PAPIs, runway end identifier lights and windsocks;
• Tri-County (Aulander): $57,940 for a waterline extension to the terminal building.

The Division of Aviation is responsible for state airport and aviation system planning and development. It also provides funding to communities for constructing and improving airports throughout the state.

The NCDOT says airports and aviation-related industries contribute $31 billion to North Carolina’s economy each year, according to a 2016 report.