SALISBURY, Md. – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) was on hand at the Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional Airport (SBY) Wednesday to announce a federal grant in the amount of 

$5,530,524. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) funds will be used to rehabilitate one of the airport’s two runways: 5-23. Part of the runway improvements will include increasing the runway’s weight limit allowing heavier planes with more passengers and cargo to move through the airport. Runway 5-23 has not been renovated in 30 years.

“SBY is an economic hub for the entire Eastern Shore. Keeping this airport, and all of our nation’s airports, running smoothly and safely is critically important to job growth,” said Senator Cardin, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure. “Federal investment in infrastructure of all kinds — runways, roads, bridges and water mains — makes good fiscal sense and create jobs while keeping people and goods moving where they want to go.”

“As we implement our vision for economic development in the years ahead, our regional airport becomes ever more important to the success of that effort,” said Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt. “Thanks to Senator Cardin’s efforts, our airport will be able to move more people and more commercial product through the Lower Shore and, for that, we are exceedingly grateful.”

The Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional Airport (SBY) is located in Wicomico County, five miles southeast of downtown Salisbury, the largest city on the Eastern Shore. SBY is vitally important to the regional economy as it is the only airport on the Delmarva Coast with scheduled service.  The construction project will sustain about 50 jobs in the region and is estimated to take about 300 days to complete. Construction is slated to start in early September.

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