September 5, 2010 - The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) highlighted $15 million in safety upgrades funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will ensure the continued safe and efficient operation of aircraft at the Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI). 

?Recovery Act funding made these safety projects possible,? said U.S Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari during a press conference at BWI. ?Not only are we keeping Marylanders at work, we are also improving airport safety and efficiency.? 

Deputy Secretary Porcari lauded the ongoing safety, environmental, communications, and utility projects at BWI. When completed next year, BWI?s reconstructed aircraft parking apron between Concourses C and D will allow for more efficient operations among larger aircraft and service vehicles.

The projects also include a new environmentally friendly deicing fluid collection system and new communications and utility systems. ?Recovery Act funds are making a difference at our nation's airports,? said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. ?These projects will ensure that BWI continues to meet the safety needs of the airport and traveling public.?

This $15 million Recovery Act grant is one of the largest awarded by the FAA. Without Recovery Act dollars, construction on this critical $41 million project could not have gotten under way. The rest of the project is being funded by the FAA?s Airport Improvement Program funds and BWI Airport. The Recovery Act funded an additional $35 million in upgrades at airport runways and aircraft parking aprons in and around the Washington Metropolitan Area.