A $10 million-plus repaving and reconstruction project on the main runway at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport is on track to begin in the fall, following the award of a major federal grant this week.

The U.S. Department of Transportation formally announced the $10.27 million grant on Wednesday. Airport officials, who secured a contractor for the project in May, learned of the grant a few days earlier.

“This is really big for this little airport,” said airport manager Ann Richart, noting that the airport also received an $800,000 federal grant just two years ago for a new firefighting and rescue facility that opened last year.

The 5,500-foot main runway will be closed for about eight months while the work takes place, leaving only one runway open at the airport for the bulk of the off-season months. The 3,300-foot cross-wind runway is able to accommodate only small planes and not the large commercial carriers that service the Vineyard during the summer months, Ms. Richart said.

She said the runway project will not hamper service on Cape Air, the only airline that services the Island in the off-season and typically uses the cross-wind runway, although some of the larger private jets that now fly in and out of the Vineyard at all times of the year could be affected.

$10 million federal grant will pay for most of the work. — Timothy Johnson

Meanwhile, Ms. Richart confirmed that the airport is seeing heavy traffic this summer and more terminal congestion than at any time in recent memory, partly due to expanded commercial service. “We are seeing congestion inside the terminal building, on the front curb, in the parking lots — everywhere,” Ms. Richart said. She said possible expansion and improvements at the airport terminal are on deck for discussion this fall by the seven-member airport commission.

Ms. Richart also said airport growth is not driven by airport managers or the commission. “It’s one of those regulatory things . . . we have to provide airport service to anyone who asks. It’s a condition of our federal funding,” she said. “If an airline comes and says we want to come, we need to accommodate them. If we had a safety or a capacity issue, that’s when the FAA would step in. Everything is market driven, but I don’t market to find new airlines. The airlines do their own market research and determine if they can make money [from a particular service].” She continued:

“We’ve got really good services right now to a lot of major hubs. Having said that, there are some other hubs we could service that would be a benefit to people . . . for example, Philadelphia, Newark, Chicago. I’m also interested in extending the season.”

But not this year when the runway will close for its facelift.

Lawrence Lynch Corp. of Falmouth submitted the lone bid of $10.6 million and will begin work in September. The project will include removing all the asphalt, rebuilding the subsurface and repaving the runway, Ms. Richart said. All the asphalt for the project will come from Goodale’s in Oak Bluffs, she said.

The runway replacement was named as a priority in the 2016 airport master plan which looked at infrastructure needs for the next 20 years. A pavement condition survey performed last year by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation found that conditions on the runway were approaching failing, Ms. Richart said.

“So it was a very high priority obviously,” she said.

The runway project will present a number of logistical issues around terminal security that are expected to result in more staff hours and overtime pay.

“Safety and security is a big deal,” Ms. Richart said. “And that will mean extra costs for the airport, including a lot of costs for overtime and staffing in order to get it done in such a compressed time period.”

Ms. Richart said the timetable is tight to finish before the start of the season next year, especially with weather a factor.

“This year was a long, cold rainy spring,” she said. “We are crossing our fingers to have an early warm, dry spring.”