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Van Nuys Airport viewed from a train on the tracks to the north. | Photo courtesy of Junkyardsparkle/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)
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Van Nuys Airport will receive $763,000 in federal infrastructure funds to improve facilities and safety as well as update technology, Rep. Tony Cárdenas announced Wednesday.
The grant “will help the busiest general aviation airport in the country, Van Nuys Airport, continue to serve our communities, drive our local economy and create jobs right here in the heart of the San Fernando Valley,” Cardenas, a Democrat whose 29th Congressional District includes Van Nuys, said during a Wednesday news conference at the airfield.
“With these funds,” he added, “we’ll help position California to not only continue to be a global economic powerhouse but a leader in airport infrastructure.”
Van Nuys Airport, which handles noncommercial flights, had more than 295,000 takeoffs and landings in 2021, according to its website.
Cardenas’ office said 167 airports across California will receive more than $294 million under the bipartisan infrastructure law, which was signed by President Joe Biden in November.
Among Los Angeles-area airports, LAX is the biggest beneficiary of the federal funds, getting more than $79 million, followed by $7.9 million for Hollywood Burbank Airport, $763,000 for Van Nuys and $295,000 for Pacoima’s Whiteman Airport.
Whiteman is under scrutiny by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for safety issues following two crashes in its vicinity in the last two months. Earlier this month, Cárdenas also addressed the airport’s safety record when he sent a letter to the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board requesting a comprehensive safety review.
Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, whose 46th Assembly District encompasses the central and southeastern San Fernando Valley, was also on hand for Wednesday’s news conference, welcoming the infrastructure funds as “a once-in- a-generation investment in our country.”
“As the Assemblymember representing thousands of employees, travelers, and neighbors of Van Nuys Airport, I am so grateful for this significant investment and applaud the federal bipartisan infrastructure law,” Nazarian said.
“These investments provide a critical opportunity to make long- overdue improvements that will help California stay competitive on a global stage and better our communities.”
Added Michael Christensen, a deputy general manager at Los Angeles World Airports, “Los Angeles World Airports is defining what it means to put investments in infrastructure to work for the traveling public by re-imagining our airports with modernized facilities, the latest technology and the highest levels of safety and security.
“The bipartisan funding will allow both Los Angeles International Airport and Van Nuys Airport to continue delivering quality projects while creating good paying jobs that support two of our region’s most important economic engines.”
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