CLEVELAND - The stalemate in Washington over funding for the Federal Aviation Administration has left 4,000 FAA employees furloughed and more than 70,000 construction workers are out of a job as airport construction projects are put on hold, including three here in Cleveland.
The biggest one currently under construction is the nearly $20 million in safety improvements to runway 10-28 at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, which runs parallel with Brookpark Road.
"At this moment [construction] continues," said Airport Director Ricky Smith. But that may not be for long. "We've received some word from the FAA that the funding stream or the funding mechanism that we are relying on may shut down come Friday."
That would put about 70 to 80 construction workers out of a job until Congress acts. Even if that delay is until they come back from summer recess next month there's no guarantee that the work can be finished before winter sets in.
Smith says they began planning for that. "We've had plan B in place for, in our minds for at least two months now where we'll make some immediate repairs to our other two runways to make sure that we maintain the runway capacity that we need."
10-28 is the shortest and least used of Hopkins runways so Smith is quick to point out there will be no impact on those who fly out of the airport.
The other two federally funded projects which are impacted have yet to get underway. A $450,000 repavement contract for Burke Lakefront Airport was still awaiting funding, and the FAA was set to break ground next month on a new air traffic control tower at Cleveland Hopkins.
"It's well over two hundred employees all together on those three construction projects so it's some significant impact in the way of jobs," said Smith.
In Washington, D.C. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called the actions of Congress to break for summer recess unbelievable.
"When ordinary citizens around the country hear that their friends and neighbors ought to be working on a construction site at an airport and they're not because Congress couldn't do their work? This is what infuriates the American people," said LaHood.
"Congress could have passed a clean bill, should have passed a clean bill, I urged them to pass a clean bill, they can still do it," said LaHood in calling for Congress to come back.
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