Gary/Chicago Airport Receives $1,315,000 in Federal Grants
Washington, D.C. – Senators Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh joined Congressman Pete Visclosky today in announcing $1,315,000 in grants for the Gary/Chicago Airport. The funding, approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), will be used for security enhancements, runway rehabilitation, and an environmental study.
The Gary Municipal Airport Authority has received approval for $523,000 for the first phase of overlaying its 7,000-foot long by 150-foot-wide runway. It was last overlaid in 1991 and has developed extensive cracking, according to the DOT.
Another grant of $477,000 will be used for the second phase of an environmental impact study. This study is needed for the future runway, terminal area, and runway safety area improvements that have been proposed as part of the airport’s master plan. The airport will also receive a $315,000 grant for increased security enhancements.
“These funds continue the enhancement of the Gary/Chicago Airport as the viable and existing option to immediately ease air traffic congestion in the Chicago area,” Lugar (R-Ind.) said.
“We are one step closer to our shared vision of GCA as the third major airport in the region,” Bayh (D-Ind.) said. “The proposed development of Gary/Chicago Airport would be a benefit to travelers and bring much-needed jobs and economic development to Northwest Indiana. The entire region is affected by air traffic congestion, and our hope is to unequivocally establish the critical role Gary/Chicago Airport will play in bringing about the most convenient, viable and immediate solution to Chicago’s air traffic control problems.”
“This funding will help the Gary/Chicago Airport expand its role as the third airport serving the Chicago Metropolitan Area,” Visclosky (D-Ind.) said. “I thank Senator Lugar and Senator Bayh for consistently working together with me to enhance Gary’s role in the regional transportation picture. Their hard work has been crucial to our successes on behalf of the Gary/Chicago Airport.”
Lugar, Bayh, and Visclosky have pushed for more than a decade to establish the Gary/Chicago Airport as the third major airport serving Chicago and Northwest Indiana. On July 23, 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the expansion bill for Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, which will allow the Gary/Chicago Airport to receive full consideration for expansion and improvement projects.
Lugar, Bayh, and Visclosky also worked together to achieve language in a Senate bill that will give the Gary/Chicago Airport priority consideration for as much as $90 million in needed improvements. The Senate version of the bill has been reported out of committee and is pending consideration by the full Senate. If that version passes, a House-Senate conference will work to reconcile any differences between the two versions.
In the 1980s, Visclosky secured the federal designation of the Gary airport as a certified foreign trade zone, increasing the incentives for firms to do business through the airport. As Governor of Indiana from 1989-97, Bayh initiated numerous efforts to develop the Gary/Chicago Airport facility, including runway improvements, environmental studies, and economic development.
On March 20, 2002, the airport received $899,275 from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for security enhancements – the largest amount of security-related funding disbursed at that time to any airport in the State of Indiana. On June 13, 2002, the airport received another $30,000 DOT grant for security enhancements.
Lugar, Bayh, and Visclosky secured $500,000 in the Fiscal Year 2001 Transportation Appropriations bill for various improvements at the Gary/Chicago Airport. These funds will be used to regrade portions of the runway safety areas and allow GCA to conduct a feasibility study to determine how to relocate the EJ&E Railroad tracks.
Additionally, Lugar, Bayh, and Visclosky met with the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Norman Mineta, on June 12, 2001 in Lugar’s office. They discussed the future of GCA, and the status of the airport’s master plan. The Indiana delegation persuaded Mineta to agree that the Master Plan should be approved by November 2001. The master plan was approved on November 27, 2001.
Lugar, Bayh, and Visclosky secured $1 million in the FY 2002 Transportation Appropriations bill for the expansion of the general-use apron at the airport. This project will provide approximately 11,000 square yards of pavement, and can provide frontage for two medium sized hangars.