The city of McKinney accepted a $7 million grant from the Texas Department of Transportation for the city’s airport expansion.
The McKinney city council, including the newly sworn in mayor Bill Cox, voted unanimously at a meeting on Tuesday to pass a resolution accepting the funds. The grant will cover 82% of the costs to rehabilitate Taxiway A, the airport’s general aviation taxiway, according to a release from the city. The city provided the rest of the funds for the $8.95 million taxiway project.
The taxiway restoration project includes fixing old pavement, constructing a new taxiway connector and removing the old one and grading and drainage improvements.
“Completing the southern portion of the Taxiway A rehabilitation project will deliver important benefits for our airport users and community,” airport director Kenneth Carley said. “Pilots and their passengers will have a safe taxiway to operate on, and the project will provide jobs for local skilled workers.”
The first phase of construction at the airport has already started. The second phase is expected to finish in spring 2027.
A group called the North Texas Conservation Association recently filed a federal lawsuit in an attempt to void the environmental assessment for the airport expansion.
The lawsuit is the latest controversy for the airport project, McKinney voters struck down $200 million in bond funds for expanding the city’s regional airport for commercial use in 2023. The city is still moving forward with the project using other funding, including sales tax dollars.
The city said it will “vigorously defend the findings” of the environmental assessment and seek to have the lawsuit dismissed.
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