Three Colorado airports received grants for infrastructure improvement projects, the U.S. Department of Transportation has announced.
Of the $230 million the federal agency granted to airports this month, Colorado received $7.1 million to be split between Denver International Airport, Nucla’s Hopkins Field Airport and Front Range Airport in Watkins.
Hopkins Field, in southwestern Colorado about an hour west of Telluride, received the most funding of the three, with $4.57 million. DIA received $2.25 million and Front Range was granted $287,950.
The grants come as part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program that provides grants for the planning and development of public-use airports. In 2016, DIA received a total of $7.54 million over the course of the year.
The grants are provided by project. At DIA, the money will be used to rehabilitate a taxiway. Front Range airport will also use the grant for a similar project.
The FAA approved four projects for Hopkins Field: to reconstruct a runway, extend a runway, install runway vertical and visual guidance systems and to construct a runway.
Grants were approved for 104 airports across the nation. Funding is given each year based on passenger volume. The grants will be issued over the next several weeks in order for airports to complete construction during the summer. Construction will be underway or complete prior to winter.
