Dutchess To Spend $2.1M On Hudson Valley Regional Airport Improvements

WAPPINGER, NY — Changes are coming to the Hudson Valley Regional Airport in Dutchess County thanks to a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration.

County Executive Marc Molinaro announced Thursday the county will invest $2.1 million to reconstruct and rehabilitate the terminal apron, taxiway and taxiway lighting at the airport located in the town of Wappinger.

Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer secured the FAA grant, according to a county spokesperson.

Molinaro said that, in the past decade, the regional airport has gone from being a costly asset for county taxpayers to becoming a profitable endeavor that provides revenue that helps offset other county costs.

"These improvements to the airport, which dates back to the 1930s, will not only enhance the viability of the facility for existing users," he said, "but will also help attract new ones — bringing more economic benefits to the people of Dutchess County."

Improvements the county plans to make at the airport include:

• Rehabilitating 18,000 square years of existing terminal apron to maintain the structural integrity of the pavement.
• Rehabilitating 600 feet of existing Taxiway E and 600 feet of existing Taxiway F pavements to maintain structural integrity.
• Reconstructing the edge lighting systems of taxiways E and F to meet FAA standards.

Located at 263 New Hackensack Rd. in Wappinger, Hudson Valley Regional Airport is a general aviation airport, designed as local, as defined in the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems report.

In 2021, the number of airport operations — take-offs and landings — exceeded 60,000 for the year, which is the highest traffic count in more than five years, according to the county.

Dutchess County invested nearly $8 million into construction and development of Dutchess Community College's educational hangar at the airport, which opened in 2021 and provides a state-of-the-art learning environment for DCC aviation students. The nearly 32,000-square-foot facility serves as experiential lab space for a fixed-base operator and maintenance facility serving the airport.

Prior to the DCC project, the county invested $8.8 million constructing a 6,725-square-foot Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting building to meet FAA safety requirements and protect rescue and firefighting equipment from adverse weather conditions.