Alaska’s two Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan announced a couple million dollars in grant funding to go to the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. $2,432,000 will go to the airport for the bridge. The existing bridge has outlived its useful life and the new passenger boarding bridge will increase passenger capacity and improve energy efficiency. The grant was made possible by the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Airport Terminals Program.
The program will provide $5 billion over five years through competitive grants to support airport infrastructure development by expanding capacity, access, and sustainability. Historically, federal funds have not supported terminal improvement projects, according to the office of Sen. Murkowski. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has received approximately 658 applications across 532 airports, requesting a total of more than $14 billion, speaking to the significant demand for airport terminal improvements.
Sen. Murkowski said:
“The Ted Stevens International Airport has facilitated our ability to fly across Alaska for decades – moving goods and services, connecting friends and family, supporting tourism, and serving as a hub for global shipping. As travel and transportation needs continue to grow, this funding will help ensure we have the most efficient and reliable infrastructure in place at Alaska’s largest airport. This grant is yet another example of the continuous funding our bipartisan infrastructure law is bringing to Alaska, and these timely investments will deliver benefits for Alaskans for a long time to come.”
Sen. Sullivan said:
“After touring Anchorage International Airport just last week, it’s clear that the airport is positioned to be one of the nation’s leading cargo and passenger hubs. Less than nine hours away from 95 percent of the industrialized world, the airport is of great strategic importance. I’m pleased to see these funds awarded to the airport and look forward to additional announcements on allotted airport infrastructure funds.”
According to the FAA, terminal grants may fund projects that improves airfield safety through terminal relocation, replacing aging facilities, increasing capacity, encouraging competition, improving energy efficiency (including LEED accreditation standards) and increasing or improving access to passengers with disabilities and disadvantaged populations. Projects that relocate, reconstruct, repair, or improve an airport-owned air traffic control tower are also eligible. Eligible airports include those operated by authorities, cities, territories, and tribes within the national air transportation system as well as those that are eligible for Airport Improvement Program grants.
According to the FAA, the first $1 billion has been awarded for more than 90 projects at airports across the country.
