Airports hope to land state funding for major projects

Kyle Wanner, director of the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission, speaks July 1, 2024, at the groundbreaking ceremony for an expansion of Hector International Airport in Fargo. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)

Three North Dakota airports have plans for major upgrades and will be asking the state Legislature to approve a combined $120 million for the projects.

Fargo’s Hector International Airport had its official groundbreaking Monday for a terminal expansion and parking garage. The airports in Grand Forks and Dickinson also have what airport officials call “generational projects,” that might come along every 30 to 40 years.

Fargo is seeking $60 million for its project and Grand Forks and Dickinson each are requesting $30 million.

At Monday’s event in Fargo, Kyle Wanner, director of the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission, called airports “economic engines” for the state.

“They sometimes need a major overhaul or an upgrade,” Wanner said.

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Kelly Braun, manager of the Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport , said there is not another viable source of funding for its plans to build a new terminal next to the existing runways.

He said the plans for a new terminal are in the design stage for the $48 million project. He said there is local and federal funding for the project.

It is upgrading a secondary runway in preparation for that project.

Ryan Riesinger, executive director of the Grand Forks International Airport , said it plans to reconstruct its main runway – an approximately $75 million project.

That means ripping up asphalt that is about 1 foot deep and the original concrete that is 1 foot deep.

Riesinger said the concrete was poured on top of a clay soil base. The modern runway will be dug down about 4 feet and be better engineered to handle the weight of large planes as well as better drainage.

“So it’s much like reconstructing the interstate, only deeper, thicker,” Riesinger said.

The Grand Forks airport is currently upgrading its secondary runway to keep the airport humming while the main runway is redone over several construction seasons.

Wanner said while there are smaller airport projects all over the state, these three high-priced upgrades have been identified as needing extra state funding.

“There’s just no other path forward,” Wanner said in an interview.

North Dakota House Majority Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, said he has been briefed on the projects and is supportive, as long as the revenue is available when lawmakers convene in January. He said a proposed property tax reform measure on the November ballot could change the budget picture dramatically.

“I’m generally supportive of this proposal, because I see the need,” Lefor said.

North Dakota’s commercial airports in 2023 had 1.1 million boardings, an 11% overall increase from calendar year 2022, according to the Aeronautics Commission. Fargo and Devils Lake recorded their best year on record.

North Dakota airports also had their busiest May on record, according to the Aeronautics Commission. Airline passenger boarding numbers reached 103,068 passengers for the month, breaking a May record set in 2014 during the oil boom.

Braun said the Dickinson airport was designed for about 9,000 passengers annually but last year had about 25,000, with projections of more than 30,000 in the next couple of years.

He said officials hope to have the new terminal open in late 2027.

The $200 million Hector project that is underway is for a four-story parking structure with about 1,000 spaces and a skyway to the terminal.

The terminal will add four more gates and there will be upgrades to the terminal interior. The project is expected to be completed in 2026.

At Monday’s groundbreaking, U.S. Sen. John Hoeven touted recent airport upgrades in Minot and Williston and called Fargo’s airport “the flagship” for the state.

“This is a quality of life issue,” Hoeven said of air travel. “So we’re going to have the best airport to go with the greatest people and the best state in the country.”

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