Monterey, Watsonville airports receive infrastructure grants from the FAA

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Wednesday that it will award a total of $478 million in airport infrastructure grants, and some of that money will be coming to the Central Coast.

The Monterey Regional Airport will receive $2,702,436 to improve the runway safety area, and the Watsonville Municipal Airport will receive $397,753 for runway and taxiway repairs.

This is the fourth allotment of the $3.18 billion in the Airport Improvement Program. The FAA will award the grants to a total of 232 airports in 43 states, including American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico. Some of the projects it will fund runway reconstruction, construction of firefighting facilities and maintenance.

Airports can receive some entitlement funding based on activity levels and project needs. The FAA can also supplement entitlements with discretionary funding.