Belen airport receives federal funding under infrastructure law

BELEN, N.M. (KRQE) – New Mexico is going to benefit from the federal infrastructure package passed by Congress. Senator Martin Heinrich was in Belen on Tuesday to talk about where some of that money is going.

Heinrich chose to visit the Belen Municipal Airport that’s receiving $159,000 from the bill this year and similar amounts in the coming years. It’s among 49 airports in the state to share a total of $90 million.

The funds can be invested in runways, taxiways, terminals, and roadway projects. Overall, New Mexico is receiving $3.7 billion from the bill to cover a wide range of projects from roads to bridges.

“To put this in context, New Mexico has not seen this level of infrastructure investment. The only corollaries that I know of are when we built I-25 and I-40 and during the Great Depression,” said Heinrich.

As for the airports, while residents may not utilize local airports they play a key role in the economy getting people involved in a business where they need to go.