Washington airports to receive $77.5 million in infrastructure funding
Dec 16, 2021, 2:26 PM
Quite check-in gates at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. (Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)
(Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)
Washington state’s 59 airports are about to receive a major boost.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration announced it will award an estimated $77.5 million to Washington’s airports through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The money can be invested in runways, taxiways, safety and sustainability projects, as well as terminal, and airport-transit connections, and roadway projects.
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This is the first of five annual rounds of funding the state will receive.
Sea-Tac International Airport is set to receive about $45 million, Spokane International will get more than $6 million, Paine Field in Everett will be getting about $3 million, as will Tri-Cities, and Bellingham International will get just under $3 million. The rest of the commercial airports in the state will receive between $1-2 million. An additional 47 reliever and general aviation airports in Washington are also expected to receive funding during the first year.
Find a map and allocated funding for each location here.
The money comes from the Airport Infrastructure Grant program, one of three new aviation programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides $15 billion over five years for this program.
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Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell helped pass the law and to include $25 billion nationwide for airports to address repair and maintenance backlogs, reduce congestion and emissions near ports and airports, and drive electrification and other low-carbon technologies.
“As Washington state families are flying again in greater and greater numbers, it’s critical that our airports can keep people and goods going where they need to,” Sen. Murray said in a written statement. “Washington state’s airports are absolutely vital to our regional economies and this long overdue infrastructure investment will help keep passengers on planes and shipments in the skies, while also cutting harming emissions.”
“Washington airports are continuing to grow, and getting much needed infrastructure dollars to help secure future capacity is important,” Sen. Cantwell said.
The KIRO Radio Newsdesk contributed to this report.
