Dalton Municipal Airport receives federal funds to upgrade lighting

May 17—Dalton Municipal Airport has received $294,000 in federal funding for upgrades, according to Georgia U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

The two recently announced $120 million in federal funding this year for Georgia airports.

Dalton Municipal Airport Director Andrew Wiersma said the funding comes from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which included $15 billion in airport infrastructure funding nationwide.

"The funding is distributed over a five-year period and amounts are announced annually," he said. "The Dalton airport was awarded $295,000 in fiscal year 2022, $292,000 in FY23 and $294,000 in FY24. The funds were intended to address aging infrastructure across the U.S."

Wiersma said the Dalton airport has been banking its funds to upgrade its old incandescent airfield lighting system to new energy-efficient, light-emitting diodes.

"The electrical rehab project is currently in the design phase and the project will include upgrade of all runway and taxiway lights, our beacon, our Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) lights and our windcone lights," Wiersma said. "This new system will save the airport a lot in electricity and maintenance expense while bringing us up to cutting-edge lighting technology which will serve airport users for many years to come. We hope to have this project out for bids this summer."

In a press release, Ossoff said Georgia's airports "are a key driver of job creation and economic competitiveness."

Warnock said Georgia "is one of the nation's most important aviation states."

"These major funding awards to strengthen our airports and improve the flying experience for consumers and workers alike are exactly the kinds of investments Sen. Ossoff and I envisioned when we were pushing to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law," said Warnock. "I'm thrilled to see the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law continuing to deliver for Georgians in every corner of the state, and I'm going to continue working on the Senate Commerce Committee to keep air travel safe and our aviation economy strong."