Jun. 5—The Casper- Natrona County International Airport will receive $1.3 million in federal money to improve its runway and taxiway lighting systems.
The airport will use roughly $1.1 million of the funds to repair its runway lights, according to a Thursday news release from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration. The other $200,000 will go toward a new taxiway lighting system. Taxiway lights help guide airplanes to and from runways safely.
The money comes from the first round of funding of the federal infrastructure package signed into law in November.
The airport expects to get roughly $1.3 million each year from the package until 2025, Airport Director Glenn Januska told the Star-Tribune in December. Part of that will also go toward a new runaway resurfacing project.
All 33 of Wyoming's commercials airports, as well as 24 reliever and general administration airports, are set to get slices of the infrastructure money.
They can use it to pay for things like runway, taxiway and terminal projects, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency encourages projects aimed at making airports safe, sustainable and equitable.
In all, the federal infrastructure law is expected to funnel $1.9 billion to Wyoming over the next five years. Of that, $72 million will go toward airport infrastructure development. Another $1.8 billion of that is reserved for improving Wyoming's highway system.
The state also expects to receive:
— $335 million to improve water infrastructure;
— $225 million for replacing and repairing bridges;
— $100 million to help provide broadband coverage across the state;
— $27 million to expand the state's electric vehicle network; and
— $14 million to protect against wildfires bill.
Deteriorating infrastructure has long been a point of concern for Wyoming, especially when it comes to highways.
In 2020, a consulting firm hired by the state concluded the Wyoming Department of Transportation was underfunded by about $350 million a year.
A bill that would have raised money for Wyoming's highway system by hiking the state fuel tax from 24 to 39 cents per gallon was drafted for the 2022 legislative session, but never introduced.
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