FAA Awards $518 Million To Improve Critical Airport Infrastructure
The grants aim to make airports safer and more accessible.
The $518 million in grants are part of the second round of the government’s Airport Improvement Plan. [File photo: Adobe Stock]
The FAA announced it has awarded $518 million to build safer, more accessible airports around the country.
“We’re investing $518 million in airports across America so communities big and small can continue to safely and efficiently connect with the rest of the world,” said FAA associate administrator for airports Shannetta Griffin.
The second round of the 2022 Airport Improvement Program (AIP), the awards include 416 grants to airports to fund construction of new and improved facilities, repairs to runways and taxiways, maintenance of airfield elements, like lighting or signage, and equipment purchases needed to operate and maintain airports.
“In communities of all sizes, airports are vital to local economies, sustaining jobs and getting people and goods where they need to go,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “We’re pleased to announce this important funding to help improve airports around the country and better serve all Americans.”
The awarded grants include:
- Heber Springs Municipal Airport (KHBZ, Heber Springs, Arkansas): $1 million for a runway extension. The grant funds the final phase of the project to enhance the safety of operations at the airport.
- La Crosse Regional Airport (KLSE, La Crosse, Wisconsin): $765,000 for fire fighting equipment. The fire replacement vehicle is required to meet FAA safety requirements under Part 139.
- Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (KSPI, Springfield, Illinois): $7 million for its runway incursion mitigation program. The project reconfigures three runways that currently intersect, improves the airfield layout of the associated taxiways, and provides funds for other related infrastructure improvements.
- Lehigh Valley International Airport (KABE, Allentown, Pennsylvania): $7.9 million for rehabilitating the 7,600 feet of Runway 6/24 pavement and the existing Runway 6/24 lighting system.
- James M. Cox Dayton International Airport (KDAY, Dayton, Ohio): $13.4 million for rehabilitating 54,000 square yards of the existing terminal apron pavement to maintain its structural integrity.
- Yellowstone Airport (KWYS, West Yellowstone, Montana): $2.6 million for construction of a new 36,000-square-foot terminal building to accommodate increased passenger demand as well as to meet Transportation Security Administration and Americans with Disabilities Act design standards.
- Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (KSAV, Savannah, Georgia): $5.3 million for installing 4,000 feet of drainage improvements to handle storm water runoff.
- Faribault Municipal-Liz Wall Strohfus Field Airport (KFBL, Faribault, Minnesota): $431,680 for rehabilitating runway lighting systems to include upgrading to LED runway and taxiway lighting.
- Naples Municipal (KAPF, Naples, Florida): $3.5 million for improving 684,400 square feet of the airport's existing drainage system to eliminate ponding on airfield surfaces to meet FAA design standards.
- Cyril E. King Airport (STT, Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands): $12.2 million for rehabilitating 7,000 feet of the existing Taxiway A to maintain the structural integrity of the pavement and to minimize foreign object debris.
- Pullman Regional Airport (KPUW, North Pullman, Washington): $7 million for creating more space in the terminal for additional vendors. This will in turn create 50 to 70 new jobs.
- Lake Charles Regional Airport (KLCH, Lake Charles, Louisiana): $1 million to fund construction of an arrivals canopy for the airport’s new 4,424-square-foot terminal.
The $518 million in airport infrastructure grants is a fraction of the $3.2 billion of total funding the FAA has available for the 2022 fiscal year.
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