Bill and Hillary Clinton are scheduled to attend the ceremony marking the first phase of renovations and the renaming in their honor of the former Little Rock National Airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded $23.4 million in funds from the new bipartisan infrastructure law to Arkansas airports.
Sixty-five commercial, county and municipal airports received the funds, with the largest amounts going to the state’s three largest airports. Clinton National Airport in Little Rock received $4.9 million, Northwest Arkansas National Airport got $4.5 million and Fort Smith Regional Airport received $1.3 million.
The money can be invested in runways, taxiways and safety and sustainability projects. It can also be used for terminal, airport-transit connections and roadway projects.
More: See the full list of grant recipients here.
The law provides $15 billion for airport-related projects, with $2.9 billion available this fiscal year.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a news release that the funds provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build safer and more sustainable airports.
“With this new funding, urban, regional and rural airports across the country now can get to work on projects that have waited for years, modernizing their infrastructure and building a better America,” he said in the release.
Jonesboro Municipal Airport received $763,000, adding to the $3.5 million it received from the FAA in October to strengthen its runway.
Airports across the state received more than $1.4 million in federal grants earlier this year to offset costs and maintain jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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