The airports that handle most commercial passenger flights in metro Phoenix will get more than $70 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for upgrades.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport will receive $66.7 million from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Infrastructure Grants program for site demolition and preparation work that will make way for a new taxiway connecting the north and south airfields from the west side of the terminals.

Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport will receive $3.7 million for a runway rehabilitation project.

The work at Sky Harbor and Mesa Gateway is part of $289 million in infrastructure upgrades the FAA will fund across 129 airports nationwide in its seventh round of Airport Infrastructure Grants funding.

Both airports also benefited from Airport Terminal Program grants from the infrastructure law. Mesa Gateway received $14.4 million to build a new five-gate terminal concourse, which opened in February. Sky Harbor received $36 million to upgrade Terminal 4’s Central Utility Plant, part of a planned $500 million refresh of the terminal’s facilities.

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Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport: $66.7M for new taxiway

Sky Harbor plans to build a 2,000-foot taxiway on the airport’s west side that will improve the flow of planes taxiing between the airport’s north and south airfields. Airport taxiways are paths for planes to get to and from runways.

Airport staff said the project, known as Taxiway Uniform, would be done in phases and would include relocating the airport’s cargo operations and reconfiguring roadways on the airport’s west side, including realigning Sky Harbor Boulevard and Buckeye Road.

The $66.7 million grant will pay for site demolition and preparation work, according to the FAA.

The new taxiway will connect the airfields from the airport’s west side for the first time, Sky Harbor staff said. That will reduce the time flyers spend on the tarmac taxiing and waiting for takeoff.

Sky Harbor estimates the project will cost $260 million, including $194 million from infrastructure law grants. The rest of the funding will come from passenger facility charges, which are fees air travelers pay when they book a plane ticket and other airport revenues.

Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport: $3.7M for runway upgrades

Mesa Gateway will receive $3.7 million to support a $4.1 million upgrade to the airport’s center runway.

The runway will go through what’s known as a mill and overlay, where old asphalt is removed and replaced with a new coat of asphalt, airport spokesman Ryan Smith said.

“This project will extend the life of the runway and allow us to continue our growing commercial and large cargo operations in a safe and efficient manner,” he said.

Mesa Gateway’s center runway improvements are one of three airfield improvement projects in the works, along with the reconstruction of one of its two other runways and a portion of one of its taxiways, the airport’s executive director J. Brian O’Neill said at a recent meeting of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority Board of Directors.

These upgrades to the Mesa airport are taking place amid record passenger traffic fueled by tourism, residential and commercial growth in the East Valley. More than 146,000 passengers used the Mesa airport in May 2024, a record month for the airport, O’Neill said.

Work on the center runway is scheduled to begin July 22 and is expected to finish in early October, Smith said. The amount not covered by the FAA grant will come from airport revenues and Arizona Department of Transportation funding.

Michael Salerno is an award-winning journalist who’s covered travel and tourism since 2014. His work as The Arizona Republic’s consumer travel reporter aims to help readers navigate the stresses of traveling and get the best value for their money on their vacations. He can be reached at Michael.Salerno@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @salerno_phx.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix airports get $66M in FAA infrastructure grants