Two inches to go: Airport's $4.1 million plan would finish runway paving

The runway extension has its extra 1,000 feet—but not all its planned asphalt. A roughly $4.1 million proposal for George M. Bryan Field would add the final two inches to the extension and put a two-inch overlay on the existing runway's 17-year-old pavement.⁠[1]

Starkville's airport department brought the funding request to the city's October 20 agenda. The 2027 Federal Aviation Administration grant pre-application, signed October 9, puts the total project at $4,086,544. The engineering worksheet proposes about $3.68 million in federal funding—roughly 90%—and $408,654 from nonfederal sources.⁠[1]

The city coversheet describes a 5% Mississippi Department of Transportation share and a 5% local share, with the city's portion at about $71,500. Those are proposed figures, not a final bill: the coversheet, application and engineering worksheet do not agree on every dollar amount.⁠[1]

Earlier phases extended both the runway and parallel taxiway, laying five of the planned seven inches of asphalt. This phase would finish the runway extension's surface, resurface the older portion and add new pavement markings. It is not another proposal to lengthen the runway.⁠[1]

The application proposes a project period from September 1, 2027, through August 31, 2028; that is not a confirmed construction schedule. The records reviewed establish the funding proposal, but not how the city acted on the October 20 request or whether the FAA has awarded a grant.⁠[1]