PEORIA ( 25News Now ) - New federal funding for Illinois airports was just announced, but it’s not headed to O’Hare or Midway.

A total of $8,293,999 from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration is going to Central Illinois, and a huge piece of that pie is for Peoria International Airport.

PIA will get $7,640,698 to update taxiways where planes prepare to take off. The funding will go towards the taxiway near Dirksen Parkway and Smithville Road, but it’s not to patch up potholes like you might see on regular streets. Airport taxiways require high standards, because bumps in the road can be devastating.

“They can’t stand hitting potholes and cracks and things like that. If you have a crack in the pavement, a jet engine can suck a pebble through and do mil

See Full Page