The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is set to acquire property at the end of the runway at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity for $286,400 to accommodate a new roundabout on Route 981.
The roundabout is part of the $55.2 million Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement project, intended to upgrade the Route 981 corridor between Mt. Pleasant Township and the airport.
The acquisition was approved during a meeting of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority this week.
Edward Kilkeary Sr., owner and CEO of L.J. Aviation — which charters business flights at the Unity airport — said the money gained from PennDOT will be used for airport modernization projects.
“(The roundabout is) very nice for Westmoreland County,” Kilkeary Sr. said. “They seem to be much safer than intersections.”
