TURNERS FALLS — A three-year project for infrastructure upgrades at the Pioneer Aviation property is ready for takeoff, as $5.03 million of funding from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will support asphalt replacement and taxiway realignment.
According to Turners Falls Airport Manager Bryan Camden, the good news from the FAA came in earlier this month, with the $5.03 million being supplemented by $152,315 that was approved at a 2024 Special Town Meeting. The project is 95% funded by federal dollars from the FAA, and the remaining 5% comes from state and local sources.
“It really is a testament to the FAA’s investment into our facility,” Camden said.
This $5.03 million is going toward a comprehensive upgrade of the Pioneer Aviation property at the Turners Falls Municipal Airport that will include the replacement of about 135,000 square feet of pavement that is more than 50 years old in some areas. Only patchwork has been done over the years.
“This, essentially, is going to replace that with modern pavement, drainage, lighting and then bring our pavement up to the FAA design standards,” Camden explained.
In 2021, Montague lent money to the Turners Falls Municipal Airport to purchase the 10-acre, $1.5 million Pioneer Aviation property from private owners via a Special Town Meeting vote. This increased revenue streams from the flight school, and the fueling and maintenance sites, which all remain operational.
Camden explained that roughly 75% of the funding will go toward the removal of the existing asphalt and base materials, which will then be replaced with an FAA-compliant, sturdy base that can protect the asphalt over time. This is on top of transportation costs associated with diesel and fuel pricing, and the cost of new construction materials.
Efforts behind the project date back three years, Camden explained, with the Special Town Meeting-approved contribution supporting permitting, design and bid materials. Notably, some grants for these pre-construction phases were made available, reducing the local contribution to an estimated $148,000.
Last year, the Airport Commission helped put together a 100-page application to the FAA for this $5.03 million in funding, emphasizing the safety issues posed by asphalt failures, as well as how the airport had seen a 45% increase in traffic in the year prior.
“We’ve seen a sharp increase in operations and fuel sales, so we want to continue to provide high-quality services for our airport users,” Camden said.
Additionally, the surrounding residential and commercial areas of the airport are being impacted by poor stormwater drainage, which this project will address.
Camden confirmed these grants are expected to cover the total cost of construction, which includes a 5% contingency, meaning no additional money from taxpayers is necessary.
Moving forward, construction is slated to begin in March 2027, weather-dependent, with an eight-week timeline for construction.
During construction, Camden said there will be contingency plans to keep the flight school operating on another section of the airport, while the maintenance building is expected to continue to operate. Plans are still in motion to figure out how fueling operations will continue, but the hope is to rent a mobile aircraft fueler.
“Thankfully, we’ve proven to the federal government that if they expend funds,” Camden said, “we’re able to complete projects on time and under budget, so it’s a significant investment … both money- and time-wise, to make this happen.”
