Updated 08/09/2012 08:31 AM
Improved Lockhart airport ready for F1 crowds
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The municipal airport in Lockhart is open for business after a major rehabilitation project.
Right now the airport is used as a training field for agricultural purposes and by visiting barbecue aficionados, but the Lockhart Chamber of Commerce is hoping the airport will play a new role this fall.
"We know that people are even going to fly in there more to make it an easier trip to get to F1," Wayne Bock with the Chamber of Commerce said.
If race fans opt to land in Lockhart, they'll find newly resurfaced runways that will make their trip to the Grand Prix even smoother.
"It had to be rebuilt out there and they've upgraded it,” Bock said. “They've done a lot of improvements and it's just a plus for us."
The improvements to the airport are not the only transportation project that has the Chamber of Commerce excited. The new State Highway 130 is nearing completion. It’s expected to bring more people into town from the north and south.
When the new toll road opens this fall SH-130 will go from Georgetown to I-10.
The Chamber of Commerce believes the two projects will make Lockhart an ideal hub for people heading to the Circuit of the Americas for races and other events.
"There's reason to believe that this area will really take off," Bock said.
The improvements to the airport cost about $600,000 and were funded by a TxDOT grant.
The airport will host an official grand reopening on Aug. 25.