Changes coming to the Meridian Regional Airport

The Meridian Regional Airport's terminal building parking lot will see big changes soon.

The Airport recently received a multimodal project grant from the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

The Mississippi Transportation Commission recently approved a $137,000 grant for the project, which is set to begin in about 30 days. The grant is a 75/25 matching grant, so the airport will pay the difference for the project, which is estimated to cost just more than $150,000.

Meridian Airport Authority president Tom Williams, anticipates a December completion date.

The details of the project will include:

• Upgrading the lights in the parking lot with LED lighting,

• Repaving a section of the lot and sealing another section

• Re-striping the entire 200-space parking lot

Williams said the work will be done in phases to keep enough parking spaces available. Each phase should take approximately two weeks and should be done in three or four phases. The airport plans to get pricing quotes from local contractors and go with the lowest and best proposal, and then divide it into multiple contracts for striping, asphalt, and lighting.

The Meridian parking lot upgrade follows an announcement in June that the airport would receive $563,097 in federal money for equipment acquisition, runway safety improvements, airfield guidance sign installation and taxiway rehabilitation. That money is part of 42 grants totaling more than $7.54 million for infrastructure and safety improvements at local airports throughout the state.