LATROBE, Pa. (KDKA) — The Westmoreland County Airport Authority is getting ready for the winter by lining up some much-needed snow-clearing equipment. 

After two decades of heavy use, Arnold Palmer Regional Airport's massive rotation brush truck is being replaced by a new $800,000 model. The airport says the upgrade is much-needed. 

Officials say $2.5 million in federal funding will help pay for the machine. Airport officials added that with ongoing airport expansion and improvement, including the widened runway and possibly more flights if Spirit Airlines and JetBlue merge, the airport needs better equipment to clear the way for planes in the winter.

"Anyone can plow snow and push snow and broom it and do whatever they want. But to do it productively, you need a machine like this," Airport Authority Executive Director Gabe Monzo.

The new piece of equipment will be in service not this year but sometime next spring.

Ross Guidotti, a Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate , joined KDKA in 2001 as a general assignment reporter.

First published on September 1, 2022 / 4:53 PM

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