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Iberia Parish receiving $4.3 million for airport access road

Posted at 6:05 PM, Sep 21, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-22 21:03:29-04

Iberia Parish is getting 14 million dollars in capital outlay funding.

One of the projects is a 4.31 million-dollar project to build an access road that would connect U.S. Highway 90 to Acadiana Regional Airport.

Acadiana Regional Airport was originally a naval auxiliary air station in the 1960s.

“The Navy never built out proper connectivity between the airport and the new highway. Currently, to get to the airport, you have to go through a residential area, school zones, and things like that,” said Iberia Industrial Development Foundation President and CEO Mike Tarantino.

Now, Iberia Parish businesses are in discussion about the commercial access road.

“So, this the Acadiana Regional Airport area with our 8,002-foot runway. We also have 5,000-foot lighted seaway that accommodates pontoon aircraft. That runway is surrounded by 2,000 acres of developable property,” explained Tarantino.

The Iberia Industrial Development Foundation says the connection will help diversify their commercial appeal.

“Maintenance repair and overhaul of heavy jets, companies that come in and do avionics, or engine work, or tire mechanics… We might develop air cargo on a much larger scale,” said Tarantino.

Iberia Parish Council will announce all of the other capital outlay projects, as well as all other sources of funding, at their meeting next Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.