WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced today that the U.S. Department of Transportation will award $31.4 million in airport safety and infrastructure grants to 11 airports in Colorado. This investment in Colorado’s airports is part of a $520.5 million national investment in America’s airports that was announced today by Secretary Chao.

“This $520.5 million in federal support to airports across the country will help to keep our nation’s airports in good shape and make air travel a better experience for passengers,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao.

With this announcement, the Trump Administration has invested a historic $11.42 billion in more than two thousand American airports across the United States for safety and infrastructure improvements since January 2017.

The airports receiving Airport Improvement Program grants in Colorado include:

• Boulder Municipal Airport—$5,000,000 to fund runway, taxiway and runway lighting repairs 
• Fremont County Airport—$267,932 to fund taxiway repairs and rebuild a runway
• Cortez Municipal Airport—$450,000 to fund building a taxiway and improve the airport drainage/erosion control system
• Denver International Airport—$18,451,250 to fund taxiway and taxiway lighting repairs
• Eagle County Regional Airport—$732,406 to fund sealing the apron pavement surface and pavement joints
• Centennial Airport—$5,000,000 to fund taxiway and runway lighting repairs
• Holyoke Airport—$150,000 to fund updating the airport master plan or study
• La Junta Municipal Airport—two separate grants, one for $66,665, to fund updating the airport master plan or study, and a second for $150,000 to fund apron repairs
• Lamar Municipal Airport—$300,000 to fund updating the airport master plan or study
• Montrose Regional Airport—$709,695 to fund expanding the terminal building
• Salida Airport-Harriett Alexander Field—$167,812 to fund sealing the apron and taxiway surface pavement and pavement joints

The Administration not only supports infrastructure through funding – it is making it possible to deliver these much-needed improvements more quickly. The Department is working hard to streamline the approval process, cut unnecessary red tape and reduce unnecessary, duplicative regulations that do not contribute to safety.  

These investments and reforms are especially timely because the U.S. economy is surging. Employers have added more than 7 million jobs since January 2017. To kick off the new decade, a robust 225,000 American jobs were added in January 2020 and the unemployment rate is still a remarkable 3.6 percent—the lowest in 50 years.

Aviation is an important part of that growth. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. civil aviation supports more than 5% of U.S. gross domestic product; $1.6 trillion in economic activity; and nearly 11 million jobs.

“America’s airports provide a gateway to the world for our citizens while at the same time delivering first impressions of the United States to visitors from abroad,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson. “It’s in our national interest to make them the crown jewel in our transportation system. The Airport Improvement Program allows us to do just that.”