BERKELEY – Things are taking off for the County Airport with $3.5 million worth of improvements set for completion this autumn.
The four-phase rehabilitation project includes repaving and repairs to more than 95,000 square yards of the airport’s apron, which leads to the taxiways and runways, according to Ocean County Commissioner Joseph H. Vicari.
He noted that the total cost of the apron rehabilitation project is $3,514,399, of which $3,497,732 is funded by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“The county’s contribution is $16,667,” Vicari added. The construction started in late June and is expected to be finished by the early fall. The rehabilitation will match up with the recent apron expansion, which was finished in 2020.
Vicari said that $1 million project was also funded the FAA.
John P. Kelly, Director of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners, said the airport was an important transportation hub and economic link, not just for Ocean County but also for the entire region.
“In recent years the county in partnership with the FAA and the state of New Jersey has continued to invest in the airport,” Kelly added.
Kelly said one of the biggest improvements was the addition of a second runway, completed in 2014.
This crosswind runway was made to make flights safer in different wind conditions. It was controversial because it was proposed at the same time as an expansion that cut down Pinelands.
About $40 million in upgrades since 1991 alone have assisted in making the airport a state-of-the-art facility and nearly $30 million in funding for these projects has come from either the Federal Aviation Administration or the New Jersey Department of Transportation – Division of Aviation, Vicari said.
