Dane County Regional Airport receives $2 million infrastructure grant

The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday announced the Dane County Regional Airport in Madison will receive $2 million in infrastructure funding to rebuild an airport roadway for vehicles. The money comes from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the trillion-dollar legislation package signed by Congress in November 2021.

The federal government will award $245.9 million in fiscal year 2024 Airport Infrastructure Grants (AIG), according to officials. The award includes 153 grants in 37 states to modernize airport infrastructure, officials added.

“We saw a record number of passengers fly during the recent holiday season, and we can expect increased demand for air travel to continue,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “These investments from the Biden-Harris administration are making it possible to modernize our country’s aging airport infrastructure to meet this demand today and ensure safe, efficient travel into the future,” he added.

The Dane County Regional Airport will receive around $2 million to rehabilitate an on-airport roadway for firefighting trucks, airport vehicles and ground service equipment to operate without entering runways or taxiways, officials said. The subset of grants is meant to reduce the risk of runway incursions.

Last summer, the airport finished its first phase of passenger terminal construction with Miron Construction and Mead & Hunt. In December, the federal government awarded the county airport with a grant to replace aging infrastructure.

The infrastructure law will provide $15 billion for airport-related projects under AIG and Passenger Facility Charge criteria, federal officials said. The FAA has made $2.89 billion available to U.S. airports for a third year, and nearly $9 billion in AIG funding was made available to airports across the country, officials added.

“Collectively, these grants help airports across the nation make timely improvements to key critical infrastructure which ensures passengers have a safe, efficient and enjoyable experience as they travel,” said Shanetta R. Griffin, the associate administrator for airports at the FAA.

States bordering Wisconsin such as Michigan and Iowa received infrastructure awards in the latest round of funding, including $5.5 million to build a 295,000-square-foot terminal at the Des Moines Terminal in Iowa.