Federal funding goes toward demo project at Phoenix airport

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced a seventh round of Airport Infrastructure Grants (AIGs) totaling $289 million allocated to 129 airports in 40 states.

The single biggest allocation is for $66.7 million and is going to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona. That grant will fund demolition work and site preparation for a new 2,100-foot taxiway designed to accommodate more flights.

Many of the remaining projects will entail significant concrete work, including several runway upgrading and new taxiway projects.

The DOT says the projects are funded thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and represent “part of the $25 billion in total funding for airport improvements such as terminal expansions, baggage system upgrades, runway safety enhancements and air traffic infrastructure improvements.”

On a day this June, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says it screened a record breaking 2.99 million passengers in a single day at airports. TSA indicates it expects to screen more than 32 million people during what it calls the Independence Day holiday travel season.

Comments DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, “Americans are flying in record numbers, and the Biden-Harris Administration continues to invest in our airports to make travel safer and more convenient for the people who pass through these airports each day.”

Some of the other airports identified as receiving new funding in the latest DOT allocations include Philadelphia International Airport in Pennsylvania, which will receive $22.2 million to fund the rehabilitation of a taxiway and enhancements to a runway.

One of the nation’s busiest airports, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, will receive $30.1 million to reconstruct one of its runways. Another big ticket runway project is being funded at Indianapolis International Airport in Indiana, which is receiving a $26.6 million grant to reconstruct a runway.

An $8.2 million grant is going toward construction of a new terminal building at Hollywood Burbank Airport in California. In Florida, $17.2 million is going to Palm Beach International Airport to fund the rehabilitation of a runway and for pavement reconstruction work on two taxiways.

Other grants in the $1.3 million to $8.8 million range are going toward runway and taxiway work at the following airports: Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut;  Northeast Wyoming Regional Airport in Gillette, Wyoming; and Knox County Regional Airport in Owls Head, Maine.

Complete lists of AIG program allocations can be found on the FAA website.