When Congressman Fred Upton voted in late April with 392 of his colleagues to advance the Federal Aviation Authority Reauthorization Act, this was likely one of the key outcomes he was hoping for. Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport more than four-and-a-half-million dollars to rehabilitate the main runway there.
Upton says, “This grant is welcome news for people and businesses here in Southwest Michigan. As one who has traveled through the Kalamazoo airport countless times — it really does serve as a springboard for critical investments in local jobs and economic growth.” April’s House vote set the stage for stable funding for the Airport Improvement Program.
Upton adds, “This project is just one of the many needed infrastructure improvements for our area and we must continue working together to ensure our roads, bridges, water infrastructure, and airfields are meeting the needs of today.”
When he cast his affirmative vote on the FAA Reauthorization on April 27th, Upton said, “As one who flies home nearly every week, I applaud this bipartisan effort to ensure continued safety and stability in American aviation.” He added at that time, “This reauthorization will help keep us the world leader in aviation: putting American jobs, innovation and the traveling public first. Importantly, we also help smaller airfields here in Southwest Michigan by making smart infrastructure investments that improve reliability and safety.”
The reauthorization plan allows the FAA and U.S. DOT to carry out activities related to civil aviation for five years, providing long-term stability for the nation’s aviation community, ensuring continued investment in airports large and small across the country, improving America’s competitiveness in the global aviation sector, ensuring passenger protections, and more.
More importantly for the Kalamazoo airfield project, the reauthorization also provides stable funding for the Airport Improvement Program, which issues grants to public use airports for planning and development purposes and is an essential part of maintaining long-term stability of airports of all sizes.
The Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport runway rehabilitation project receives $4,650,000 to get the work done. There was no immediate timetable for the project in the communication today from the U.S. Department of Transportation or Congressman Upton’s office.
Photo of Kalamazoo/Battle Creek Int’l courtesy of Windemuller, headquartered in Grand Rapids.
