FAA awards $17.9 million for Jamestown Regional Airport upgrades

Federal aviation money is once again headed toward Jamestown Regional Airport, part of a $17.9 million package the Federal Aviation Administration awarded for 20 airport infrastructure projects across North Dakota.

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven announced the funding, and Jamestown’s airport was listed alongside Carrington Municipal Airport and Barnes County Municipal Airport in the statewide announcement. For Stutsman County, the significance goes beyond a line item in a federal release: airport grants can determine whether a regional airport keeps pace on reliability, business access, emergency response and the day-to-day movement of people and equipment.

The FAA says Airport Infrastructure Grant money can be used for runways, taxiways, safety and sustainability projects, terminals, airport transit connections and roadway work. That matters in Jamestown because those are the parts of the airport that shape whether aircraft can land safely, whether vehicles can move efficiently around the field and whether the airport remains competitive for the kinds of travel that small cities rely on most.

The newest announcement fits a pattern of repeated federal investment at Jamestown Regional Airport. In March 2024, Hoeven said the airport was set to receive $2.6 million for improvement, modification and rehabilitation of a service road and taxiway, along with snow removal equipment. Around the same time, the FAA announced $1.3 million for an on-airport roadway designed to keep aircraft rescue and fire-fighting trucks, airport vehicles and ground service equipment out of airfield movement areas.

Jamestown has also benefited from earlier work tied to federal aviation funding. In April 2020, Hoeven announced the airport had been awarded $1,531,989, plus a $170,221 CARES Act match, for aircraft rescue and firefighting safety equipment, apron reconstruction and runway and taxiway rehabilitation. Taken together, those awards show that the airport’s needs are not abstract. They point to recurring maintenance and safety demands that local taxpayers would struggle to cover alone.

Hoeven said in 2020 that North Dakota airports have provided vital services for moving people and goods as the state’s population has increased. That point still applies in Stutsman County, where Jamestown Regional Airport serves as more than a travel stop. It is part of the region’s transportation backbone, a factor in whether outside investors, business travelers, medical transport and job seekers see Jamestown as connected and accessible.

The FAA’s April 7, 2026 Airport Improvement Program grant announcements also show that airport funding continues in annual federal cycles, not as a one-time burst. For Jamestown, that means the airport remains in the federal pipeline for capital work that can keep the runway system, access roads and safety equipment current for years to come.