Progress happening on the quest to reimagine Trenton-Mercer Airport

⚫Long journey to get to this point

⚫Exciting developments in October

⚫Talk about the end vision

EWING — Mercer County is making headlines for projects that will have impacts far beyond the immediate area.

October marked the groundbreaking for the Trenton-Mercer Airport's future air rescue and fire station, while County Executive Dan Benson said the terminal replacement project received $2.5 million this month from the Airport Terminals Program from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Benson touts environmental benefits to having the airport here for New Jerseyans and Pennsylvania between major cities, furthering why there needs to be investments in its future.

The terminal's architectural work is done, much of the engineering work is complete and its construction manager is approved. During the October talk, Benson said they just now need to go out to bid for the actual construction.

"I think there's a lot of misunderstanding by those that oppose what they think is a expansion of the airport for bigger, noisier planes. This really is just taking what we currently have and making it better," Benson said to New Jersey 101.5.

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The complete rebuild will have all gates seen from one floor, access from the gate to the plane without having to go outside and dining, while keeping the smaller airport TSA experience.

"We're staging this in such a way that the existing terminal will be in operation while the new terminal is being built. And same thing with the firehouse," Benson said.

Once complete, the reimagined fire station will be an example of shared services under one roof: air rescue and firefighting operations led by Pro-Tec Fire Services and land response by Ewing Township. Benson calls this a win-win for the county and for Ewing taxpayers.

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He says the goal is to rely on grant dollars, the ability to get reimbursements from the FAA for construction projects on the terminal and private leases and revenue on site to pay for much of the project. "But this is an economic investment for the whole entire county, and so obviously the county will be putting in a portion of that capital through our debt management," Benson said.

The goal is to have the fire building completed by the end of next year, so then site prep for the terminal project and parking deck can begin soon after.

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