From its beginnings as a Navy base during World War II to its present-day status as the Island’s only commercial airport, the Martha’s Vineyard Airport has seen a number of airlines come and go. For the past 20 years the main, year-round airline has been Cape Air, with a seasonal presence from U.S. Air bringing in flights from New York and Washington, D.C. This summer, two new airlines began service to the Island. JetBlue and Delta are flying from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and will continue service until Labor Day.

The Martha’s Vineyard Airport is getting new runways. But the work you’ve seen going on out there all spring is only phase one.

“To you guys it’s probably just asphalt and drainage but to airport people it is something that will last a long time,” airport manager Sean Flynn said on a tour of the new construction this week.

The total cost of the project is $12.5 million, 95 per cent of which is funded by the federal government. The state and airport split the difference in the remaining five per cent.

After losing their motocross track in West Tisbury, the Vineyard dirt bikers may have a new home.

The Martha’s Vineyard Airport commission is considering issuing shared use agreement for a recreational motorcycle riding area at the airport. The two-acre parcel is currently used for staging construction materials and would continue to hold those materials in concert with the track.