U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa. 7, teamed to visit Lehigh Valley International Airport in Hanover Township and Lehigh Carbon Community College in Schnecksville Aug. 9.

The two federal officials visited to bring attention to two different programs which are bringing money and jobs into the Lehigh Valley.

Airport officials gave Buttigieg and Wild a tour of the ongoing construction of an expansion that will house Transportation Security Administration’s new security passenger check-in facility.

A $5 million federal grant to LVIA is doubling TSA’s passenger security checkpoint from two lanes to four. This will more than double the current passenger screening rate from 300 per hour to 740 per hour.

This expansion will result in increased passengers and “competing airlines will have greater access to peak hour departure times,” officials said.

The project replaces infrastructure in “poor condition” and dating back to 1974. It also expands the infrastructure.

The $5 million grant comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This law is included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which authorizes up to $108 billion for public transportation. This, according to the Federal Transit System’s website, is the largest federal investment in public transportation in the nation’s history.

Press materials also pointed out that Wild secured $600,000 in Community Project Funding to further upgrade security technology.

Following the visit to LVIA, the entourage went to the Schnecksville campus of LCCC where Buttigieg and Wild had a private meeting with local officials including Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong.