Dane County Airport Getting $20M Covered Parking Ramp

Madison’s Dane County Regional Airport, which is attracting near-record numbers of passengers, is spending $20 million on a new covered parking ramp.

Last year, Dane County Regional Airport had its second-greatest number of departing passengers ever. Airport director Brad Livingston said existing spots in the parking garage get filled up on a regular basis, so they’re adding three floors and 1,500 spaces to the parking ramp. The project should be completed by December.

“At this airport, covered parking is a premium. The garage fills from Monday through Thursday evening. We’ve had that issue for the past year,” Livingston said.

Much of the air traffic growth has come from EPIC, a medical software company located in Verona. Paul Jadin directs Madison Region Economic Partnership, or MadREP. He says companies choose where to locate and do business based on a number of things, among the most important is infrastructure.

“And when you have a quality airport it is much easier for us to lure business from New York, from California Texas or from around the world,” Jadin said.

The Dane County Regional Airport will also start offering free WiFi.