Cleveland - U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced Tuesday that the Trump Administration will award more than $273 million in airport safety and infrastructure grants through the Federal Aviation Administration to 41 states and the District of Columbia, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Puerto Rico.
“This $273 million federal investment in our nation’s airports will strengthen safety, improve travel, generate jobs, and benefit local communities,” said Secretary Chao.
The total includes just over $242 million from the Airport Improvement Program and $31 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act grants to equal a 100 percent federal share.
“The safety of our nation’s airports is of paramount importance to the FAA,” said FAA Administrator Stephen M. Dickson. “These grants will allow these necessary projects to continue.”
The grants will be used for a variety of critical infrastructure and safety projects. The projects include purchasing aircraft rescue and firefighting equipment, constructing runways and taxiways, repairing runways and taxiways, installing aircraft lighting and signage, conducting airport master plan studies and installing airport perimeter fencing.
Ohio is one of the states benefiting from the grants as well, receiving over $19 million across 13 airports statewide.
Among those is Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, which is getting $15.2 million for work on a new Taxiway.
"It's a way to decrease congestion, and just make traffic and crowds smoother as the economy continues to reopen," said Secretary Chao, who talked with WTAM 1100.
A full list of the Ohio Airports receiving funding is below:
- Akron-Canton Regional Airport - $1,133,000 - Acquire Snow Removal Equipment, Construct Service Road, Install Miscellaneous NAVAIDS, Rehabilitate Apron, Rehabilitate Taxilane, Rehabilitate Taxiway, Rehabilitate Taxiway Lighting.
- Bellefontaine Regional Airport - $125,000 - Rehabilitate Runway
- Bluffton Airport - $907,500 - Rehabilitate Taxiway
- Harrison County Airport - $239,999 - Reconstruct Taxiway, Rehabilitate Taxiway
- Burke Lakefront Airport - $94,745 - Rehabilitate Taxiway
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport - $15,202,200 - Construct Taxiway
- Warren County/John Lane Field Airport - $65,650 - Obstruction Marking/Lighting/Removal
- Lima Allen County Airport - $279,796 - Install Runway Vertical/Visual Guidance System, Rehabilitate Apron
- Put-In-Bay Airport - $124,800 - Acquire Snow Removal Equipment
- Portage County Airport - $76,724 - Obstructions Marking/Lighting/Removal
- Jefferson County Airpark - $265,000 - Install Weather Reporting Equipment
- Van Wert County Airport - $79,480 - Expand Apron
- Pike County Airport - $325,000 - Conduct or Update Miscellaneous Study, Improve Airport Drainage
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