U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg recently highlighted the $8.68 million federal grant to help fund Gerald R. Ford International Airport’s concourse expansion in western Michigan.
Buttigieg also said the funds will be part of a larger project to help better accommodate additional travelers in Grand Rapids, according to a July 11 MLive article.
“As part of the terminal gate expansion project here, this grant is going to help to fund eight new passenger boarding bridges so that this airport is able to handle more travelers and so that they can walk or roll more comfortably from their gate to their plane," Buttigieg said in the release. "It’s going to make traveling better. It’s going to allow Grand Rapids to accommodate that increasing passenger growth and support the economic opportunity that is emerging across West Michigan.”
Concourse A is getting a $110 million expansion, which will accommodate more passengers by adding eight new boarding gates and new amenities, MLive reported. Construction is already underway. According to Ford Airport officials, the expansion's first phase will be open spring 2023 with the full project being completed at the end of that year.
“We look forward to the day when the improvements now underway and those planned and possible by this grant are completed," Kent County Board Chair Stan Stek said in the article. "Collectively, they will enhance air travel for this region and advance our vision for excellence in building a great place to live, to visit and to do business.”
Buttigieg credited President Biden new Infrastructure bill for the funding, according to MLive.
“For the long term, we’ve got to modernize the infrastructure itself and make sure the airports are ready not just to get through the summer travel season but for the decades ahead," Buttigieg said in the release. "All of this is a reality thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”
