The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has announced that 26 airports will receive a share of almost $12 million in federal, state, and local funds for maintenance, safety, and security improvements.
State contributions will leverage more than $9 million in federal grants, the department said in a news release.
WSDOT’s policy is to give priority to projects that improve and protect airport pavement, and it will allocate about two-thirds of the funding for 32 such projects during the first round of Airport Aid grants awarded during the 2011-2013 biennium. The next round of grant announcements is expected in the spring.
The full list of projects funded under the newly announced grants are available on the department’s website.
Each year, WSDOT’s airport grant program provides crucial funding to many of the state’s 138 public airports, leveraging millions of dollars in federal grants with much smaller state and local match contributions. WSDOT said the grants “are vital to the airport system in Washington that supports more than 171,000 jobs and generates $4.1 billion in wages annually.”
WSDOT’s airport grant program is funded by an 11-cent fee on aviation fuel, and from a portion of state aircraft registration fees.
