Federal grant to fund lights for Saline County Airport
By LEWIS DELAVAN Editor

New taxiway lighting is one more step toward an Instrument Landing System at Saline County Airport.

A $411,240 federal Department of Transportation grant will fund the improvement, congressional offices jointly announced recently.

Instrument landing will help attract corporate jets and larger planes to the airport, County Judge Lanny Fite said.

Saline County Airport Commission chairman Mark Westbrook said ILS removes human error from landings.

Instruments will help pilots land in bad weather. "Otherwise they would have to rely on their sight," he said. "This will allow them to rely on technology to get them down from the air."

Fite foresees ILS to completed by the first of 2009.

Fite has heard favorable comments about the new airport, which opened in spring 2007.

It is east of Arkansas 183, between Bryant and Bauxite, on land donated by Alcoa Inc.

The new airport is safer than the old beside Holland Chapel Baptist Church and the Saline County Fairgrounds by Interstate 30.

Holland Chapel had to remove its steeple and provide for a flashing red light for the old airport, but soon will install a new steeple, says Pas- tor Jason Tallent.. The new, taller steeple will be topped by a cross and will be illuminated at the base.

The congressional delegation praised the grant. "Our airports should be safe and technologically advanced as possible," said U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln.

The grant is "a good example of how federal dollars can be reinvested into the local community," said U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor.

"Air travel is a nice way to come and go in Arkansas and our passengers deserve the security to arrive and depart safely and smoothly," said U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder.

Little Rock's Adams Field airport also received a $1.8 million grant to install taxiway centerline lights and in-pavement edge lights to boost nighttime visibility.