The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will award seven Alaska airports a total of $42 million in Airport Improvement Program grants to help with safety, access and sustainability efforts.
The money comes from the fiscal year 2021 Airport Improvement Program, which receives approximately $3.2 billion in funding each year.
The FAA has awarded more than 64 grants totaling $257.4 million to Alaska airports during the fiscal year 2021.
"These grants reflect our ongoing commitment to the unique needs of Alaska aviation community and our focus on supporting the extensive Alaska National Airspace System," FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a statement.
According to the FAA, aviation provides the backbone of daily commerce to many communities in the state, including the delivery of food and life-saving supplies, inter-city and inter-village transportation, emergency medical evacuations and daily commuting.
Obviously, much of that is due to its remoteness. Approximately 82 percent of communities in Alaska are only accessible by air. Many of these communities are home to Alaska natives, which represent nearly 20 percent of the state's population.
"Transportation connectivity is paramount to reach communities throughout our great nation. These grants are key to achieve that goal," said Arlando Teller, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tribal Affairs.
The projects will not have to pay the usual local match thanks to nearly $100 million in President Biden's American Rescue Plan Act.
The grants include:
-- Bethel Airport in Bethel, Alaska: an additional $6.0 million to the $34.3 million announced in August to replace the airport lighting vault, reconstruct airfield guidance signs, strengthen Runway 01L/19R, rehabilitate the taxiway, and purchase snow removal equipment and an emergency generator.
-- Chefornak Airport in Chefornak, Alaska: $6.6 million to rehabilitate the access road to the airport, the airport's runway and the apron area where planes park.
-- Kipnuk Airport, Kipnuk, Alaska: $18.9 million for improvements to navigational aids, which include installing new aids as well as the reconstruction of the airport beacon and taxiway lighting. In addition, the airport will use grant funding to widen the runway and rehabilitate the taxiway and apron where planes park.
-- Kenai Municipal Airport, Kenai, Alaska: $506,500 to construct, extend and improve the airport safety area.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough
-- Warren "Bud" Woods Palmer Municipal Airport, Palmer, Alaska: $526,000 to improve airport drainage and erosion control for the taxiway.
-- Atqasuk Edward Burnell Sr. Memorial Airport, Atqasuk, Alaska: add an additional $3.1 million to the $20.7 million announced in August to install navigational aids, including apron edge lights and flood lighting, reconstruct runway and taxiway lighting, replace the airport lighting vault, install additional perimeter fencing, and rehabilitate the airport's runway, taxiway, and apron where planes park. Atqasuk, a remote community in northern Alaska, is solely dependent on aviation for the transportation of people, goods, and critical services.
-- Metlakatla Airport, Metlakatla, Alaska: $6.5 million to repair the seaplane base so it can be used to safely transport goods and services to remote communities in Alaska, including the Metlakatla Indian Community on Annette Island in southern Alaska.
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