DOT 62-04
Contact: Bill Mosley
Tel.: (202) 366-4570
Friday, April 30, 2004

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mineta Announces
$48.9 Million in Grants to Expand Capacity, Enhance Safety
At Michigan Airports

U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta today announced $48.9 million in grants to expand capacity and enhance safety at airports throughout Michigan. The total includes grants to airports in Charlevoix, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Muskegon and Pellston, as well as a $20.8 million block grant to the state for development of projects at smaller airports.

“These funds will mean more travelers, better connections and safer flying across Michigan,” said Secretary Mineta. “Tomorrow’s prosperity lies within our ability to move the American economy today.”

Pellston Regional Airport received $4.5 million for the third phase of construction of a terminal building. Detroit’s Willow Run Airport received two separate grants to enhance safety: $2.4 million to remove abandoned runway pavement and install runway incursion lights and taxiway reflectors, and $1.9 million to improve a runway safety area.
A grant of $4.1 million will be used by Grand Rapids Gerald R. Ford International Airport to rehabilitate a taxiway and update the airport master plan.

Capital City Airport in Lansing received three separate grants. A grant of $2.1 million will be used to enhance security at the airport. A total of $500,000 will pay for grading and road construction to improve the runway safety area. An additional award of $434,892 will be used to prepare an environmental assessment and perform preliminary engineering for a new runway that will enhance the airport’s capacity.

Also, Charlevoix Municipal Airport received $2.8 million to construct a snow removal building and acquire snow removal equipment, and to rehabilitate and construct taxiways. Muskegon County Airport received a grant of $2.5 million to improve its runway safety area, including land acquisition, and Flint’s Bishop International Airport received $950,000 to enhance security.

DOT also announced today that grants totaling $6.65 million would be awarded for runway extension and safety improvements as well as noise mitigation for neighborhoods surrounding Oakland County International Airport. A portion of these awards comes from the $20.8 million state block grant.

The funds come from the Airport Improvement Program of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration.

Briefing Room