Idaho Governor Brad Little\u2019s \u201cLeading Idaho\u201d funding\ninitiative paved the way recently for badly needed runway improvements at the\nMalad City Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leading Idaho funding supplied 100% of project costs, to the\ntune of $1.6M.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project began in September 2021 and finished in late\nJuly. It was managed by local airport officials and Idaho\u2019s Division of\nAeronautics. The airfield at Malad City is one of 48 community airports\nstatewide that are managed by Aero, which is part of the Idaho Transportation\nDepartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Malad\u2019s City Airport was at the top of the list for funding\ndue to a runway that only scored a 37 (of 100) in the most recent Pavement\nCondition Index (PCI) \u2013 a rating that translated to \u201cVery Poor.\u201d The PCI is the\nprimary rating tool to determine the level of pavement distress and subsequent\nneed for improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Malad City Airport is just the first of many small\ncommunity airports across the state that will utilize these Leading Idaho funds\nto tackle needed repairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA huge thank you to Governor Little for his Leading Idaho\nGrant and for the State of Idaho Aeronautics for trusting in Oneida County –\nMalad Airport with the grant funds to rebuild our runway,\u201d said Malad City\nAirport Office Manager Roxanne Albretsen. \n\u201cWe are beyond grateful and will maintain and keep it in beautiful condition\nfor years to come!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Airport Board member Mike Hess, in comments made to the\nlocal newspaper, The Idaho Enterprise, said the biggest beneficiaries of the\nrunway improvement would include \u201cLife Flight first and foremost; saving lives\nas Malad relies on medical transport in many life-threatening cases.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Without a well-maintained runway, critical patients must be\ntaken by ambulance to the nearest trauma center, which can often make a\nsignificant difference in their medical intervention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hess continued, \u201cFirefighting would be next. Almost every\nyear the Forest Service will set up a fire-fighting base there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year\u2019s fire season has not been as extreme as last\nyear\u2019s, but the recent Lemhi County and Yosemite fires suggest the season may\nhave quite a few surprises left, especially as high temperatures and winds are\nin the forecast for much of August. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hess also mentioned some less-visible benefits. \u201cEach year, Agricultural spray planes base\ntheir operations at the airport for the local agricultural community. There\nwere over 2,200 landings here last year. \nMany of these will take the Courtesy Car into town and buy lottery\ntickets and a meal. Many people fly in for other business purposes and\/or\nfamily visits. Many visitors are flying cross-country and stop to purchase gas,\nwhich benefits the county. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Idaho Department of Commerce has indicated that having a\ncommunity with rail service, freeway access and an airport are three of the\nmost important considerations new businesses look for when selecting a site.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of Governor Little\u2019s \u201cLeading Idaho\u201d initiative, the\n2021 Idaho Legislature dedicated $126 million of one-time funds from Idaho\u2019s\nbudget surplus to transportation projects statewide. The funds were split 60\/40\nbetween ITD and local jurisdictions. Construction on this project is paid for\nwith ITD\u2019s portion of the funds that will accelerate projects to replace\nbridges, restore pavements, and improve mobility in communities across Idaho.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Idaho Governor Brad Little\u2019s \u201cLeading Idaho\u201d funding initiative paved the way recently for badly needed runway improvements at the Malad City Airport. Leading Idaho funding supplied 100% of project costs, to the tune of $1.6M. The project began in September 2021 and finished in late July. It was managed by local airport officials and Idaho\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-idaho"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23045"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23046,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23045\/revisions\/23046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}