Tester touts infrastructure bill during airport tour

Montana Sen. Jon Tester visited the Glacier Park International Airport Wednesday morning to tout the recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law — a law that will bring millions in federal funds to the airport’s expansion project.

The airport was the second busiest airport in the state last year, according to figures released by the Montana Department of Transportation in January. It had about 416,000 “enplanements” — meaning the number of people that came to the airport and got on a plane — in 2021.

Bozeman was the busiest airport in the state.

If one roughly doubles that figure, that’s the total number of people who used the airport, noted manager Rob Ratkowski.

The roughly $100 million expansion project will triple the size of the airport and federal funding “is a critical piece” of the project, Ratkowski said.

The expansion is the largest in the airport’s history.

Ratkowski said they’ve already received about $30 million in funding from the Federal Aviation Administration; expect to get about $5 to $8 million in Transportation Security Administration funding and the hope is to get more funding for the airport’s terminal from the infrastructure bill.

The airport will also see about $14.323 million secured by Tester, a Democrat, over five years through the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program, which can be used to construct or repair runways and taxiways as well as make terminal and gate improvements.

The expansion will more than double the square footage of the facility from 75,000 square feet to 198,000 square feet when completed in 2024.

Tester noted that under the infrastructure law, all of the steel for the projects the $1.2 trillion law supports will be made domestically.

The law also boosts high speed internet across the country and Montana and will support billions in road projects.

The bill will provide more than $3 billion for Montana’s highways and bridges and billions more for national park roads.

It’s expected to create about 800,000 jobs over the next few years, Tester noted.

Columbia Falls Mayor Don Barnhart spoke in favor of the airport expansion and thanked Tester for his support of Columbia Falls projects.

The city is currently pursuing a federal grant to rebuild 13th St West, Fourth Avenue West and other key routes that serve the schools.

Barnhart said that rather than go to Washington to rally for the funds, Tester “agreed to come to us.”

The city hasn’t been successful in past efforts obtaining federal funds for what’s known a  Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant, but Tester urged the city to apply again.

“They have a well-thought out application,” he said.

This year, that pot of money has been boosted nationwide to $1.5 billion.

The city council Tuesday night agreed to give the grant another shot.