The Golden Triangle Regional Airport will use an $11.3 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to renovate and expand its terminal.
GTRA and the FAA both announced the grant award on Thursday as part of the newly established Airport Terminals Program funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, according to a GTRA press release.
“This terminal renovation project will add a second floor with a jet bridge to provide access and capability for larger regional jets, ensuring the airport can continue to meet near and long-term requirements for modern regional and mainline aircraft,” the press release reads.
Airport Executive Director Matt Dowell believes with the added space, the airport will have the capacity for additional flights and destinations and possibly more jobs. Now Delta is the only commercial airline flying through GTRA, offering four round-trip flights per-day to and from Atlanta.
“If Delta Airlines wanted to offer a new market, or a new airline wanted to come in, we would have the space capacity to do so,” Dowell told The Dispatch. “So, it allows us to grow and allows us to bring in potentially more jobs and more air service.”
The second-floor terminal will be built on top of the concrete roof lining extending out from the terminal. The roof was built in 2009 with the purpose of eventually becoming the floor for the current renovation project, according to JBHM Architects senior project manager Bill Whittle. JBHM has been working with the airport since the 1980s.
“The airport and the directors of the airport and the board had the foresight to plan for this day for many years and JBHM has been fortunate enough to be involved in that at each stage,” Whittle said.
The jet bridge, which is an enclosed ramp-like tunnel that most major airports use to move passengers from the terminal to the airplane cabin, will replace the outdoor ramp the airport currently uses.
The renovation project is now going into the final design phase; the GTRA plans to add Approximately 8,200 square feet to the second floor of the terminal building. Dowell and his team project the construction to begin in May 2023 once the designs have been finished and bidding for a construction contractor is completed.
The Jobs Act of 2021 was passed to modernize roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, airports, broadband, drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. It provided $5 billion in competitive grants for airport terminal development projects that address the aging infrastructure of the nation’s airports.
According to the FAA website, more than 90 projects at 85 different airports are now funded across the country. The improvements made to these airports will provide benefits like an increase in energy efficiency, promoting competition, providing greater accessibility for individuals with disabilities and for the construction of new air traffic control towers.
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