The Department of Transportation’s Airport Improvement Act will grant the Long Beach Airport more than $4 million to improve ramps and taxiways, according to a press release from the office of Congresswoman Laura Richardson. We’ll have more on this story shortly, but in the meantime, click here to read our July interview with Airport director Mario Rodriguez.
“We;re very pleased and excited that the grant funding has been released,” said Christine Edwards, Operations Bureau Manager, during a phone interview this afternoon. “It will provide sorely needed jobs for the community and will begin the job of rebuilding our ramp with concrete that will last us the next 50 years or so.”
Edwards also explained that the funding will make its way through City officials and should be finalized and ready to spend sometime next week. She also explained that an additional $3 million is set to be granted to the airport in a grant based on the number of passengers that have used the airport in the past year. This brings the airport’s total grant receivings to more than $7.4 million, the exact amount they hoped to get to improve the ramp and taxilane.
The ramp job itself will cost about $6 million and create close to 120 jobs, but Edwards also said that the taxilane project will cost about $900k and produce several dozen more jobs. The airport is close to selecting a contractor for the work and will announce the recipient during an upcoming City Council meeting, likely in early September.
The press release from the Congresswoman’s office is provided below:
Congresswoman Richardson Announces over $4 Million in Federal Funding for the Long Beach Airport
~Funding is estimated to create up to 120 local jobs~
Washington, DC—Congresswoman Laura Richardson announced today that the Long Beach Airport joined the other nation’s airports by confirming the receipt of $4,362,439 in federal grant money. The funding was awarded through the Department of Transportation’s Airport Improvement Program (AIP) and will be used specifically for air carrier ramp reconstruction and taxiway rehabilitation.
“This funding is a welcome relief for Long Beach and the businesses that support the local travel industry as well,” Congresswoman Richardson stated. “This shovel-ready project is just what the Congress intended by stimulating jobs in Long Beach’s 12.5% unemployment rate and putting an estimated 120 people to work. It is projects like these that will help curb our growing unemployment rate and make our economy start growing and maintain a sustainable pace over time.”
The AIP is a federal grant program that provides funding for public airports—and, in some cases, to private airports—to help improve safety and efficiency. The AIP was established by the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982. Its funds are drawn from the Airport and Airway Trust fund which is supported by user fees, fuel taxes, and other similar revenue sources.
Last March, Congresswoman Richardson announced that the Compton/Woodley Airport was the recipient of $8 million in federal funding for apron rehabilitation and participated in a critical project announcement in California that allocated $15 million in funding for the construction of a new inline baggage handling system at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The Compton/Woodley Airport funding was made available through the Department of Transportation’s Airport Improvement Program and was authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which Congresswoman Richardson supported.
“My work with the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration, both on the committee and with appropriate secretaries, will continue to fulfill my objective and commitment on bringing economic growth and stabilization to our region,” Congresswoman Richardson, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Aviation, stated.
Long Beach Airport serves nearly three million commercial airline passengers annually and hosts Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways and US Airways.