Kahului Airport and Maui Memorial Medical Center will get the largest chunks of state money for Maui County from Gov. Neil Abercrombie's release last week of more than $44 million for various capital improvement projects state-wide, according to an announcement from the Governor's Office.
The state Department of Transportation will receive more than $8 million for additional design costs for structural improvements and long-term rehabilitation to Kahului Airport's main 7,000-foot runway.
Early this year, the department held public informational meetings to review alternatives to repair the airport's 70-year-old runway. Plans for a major overhaul of the runway stemmed from a 2009 notice by the Federal Aviation Administration that federal funds would no longer be available for piecemeal patching of the runway's deteriorating surface.
The department announced three options to make repairs - the least costly at $47 million would not allow wide-body jet landings for eight to 10 weeks; another option costing $66 million to $84 million would not permit large jet landings for three weeks; and a final option with a price tag of $110 million to $134 million would have no aircraft landing restrictions.
The most expensive option was overwhelmingly preferred at a public meeting in January. No decision has been made on which option will be adopted, and no timetable for a decision was given by Derek Inoshita, spokesman for the state Transportation Department, on Wednesday.
In other money released by the governor, Kahului Airport also will get $350,000 in additional design funds to reconstruct the Taxiway A apron.
Abercrombie released $3.3 million for Maui Memorial to design, construct and purchase equipment for the renovation of the hospital's Imaging Department treatment rooms, physician's offices, patient care and public areas, and to accommodate new and replacement imaging equipment.
The improvements will maintain patient privacy and upgrade care, the Governor's Office said.
In other funding:
* Baldwin High School will receive a portion of $3.5 million released for schools statewide for design, construction and required works of art for upgrades needed to meet Americans With Disabilities Act requirements. Projects may include modifications to walkways, ramps, parking stalls, elevators, building interiors and exteriors to make them legally accessible.
* Piilani Highway, $306,000 for additional construction to widen Ohukai Road on both approaches to the highway. The project will include constructing left-turn storage lanes and relocating existing streetlights, guardrails and wheelchair ramps.
* Hana Highway, $253,000 for additional construction of a second phase of a project to remove overhanging, protruding and unstable rocks from the slopes above the highway to prevent falling rocks from injuring motorists.
* Honoapiilani Highway, $96,000, with $864,000 in federal funds, for construction to upgrade highway lighting and improve traffic safety on the highway's intersections with Kaanapali Parkway and Halelo Street.
