WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced today that the U.S. Department of Transportation will award $4.2 million in airport safety and infrastructure grants to nine airports in North Dakota. This investment in North Dakota’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 North Dakota include:

• Crosby Municipal Airport—$80,000 to fund sealing for runway, apron and taxiway surfaces and joints.
• Ellendale Municipal Airport—$454,488 to fund taxiway construction.
• Grand Forks International—$386,948 to fund an Environmental Study.
• Minot International Airport—$2,066,154 to fund reconstruction of a taxiway and apron, expand another apron and to build a taxiway.
• Oakes Municipal Airport—$82,800 to fund rehabilitation of a taxiway, plus seal runway, apron and taxiway surfaces and joints.
• Rolla Municipal Airport—$661,500 to fund construction of a hangar.
• Tioga Municipal Airport—$455,000 to fund apron rehabilitation and to build a taxiway.
• Washburn Municipal Airport – $342,000 to fund expansion of an access road and construct a fuel farm
• Barnes County Municipal Airport Authority–$150,000 to seal taxilane pavement surface

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.”