Daley proposes $6 billion O'Hare plan

By Gary Washburn
Tribune staff reporter
June 29, 2001

Mayor Richard M. Daley today unveiled a $6 billion plan calling for a massive makeover of O'Hare International Airport, adding one new runway, a new terminal and new roadway access to the airport from the west.

The proposal, which Daley conceded will face a court challenge even if Gov. George Ryan approves it, would require acquiring 141 acres of property in Des Plaines and another 292 acres in Bensenville -- displacing more than 300 homes, 240 apartment units and 70 businesses.

Three existing runways would be relocated. One of those is now seldom used, but would become a major player in the reconfigured airfield.

The $6 billion bill would be footed not by taxpayers, but by airlines, passenger ticket taxes and federal grants, Daley said.

In the end, O'Hare could handle 1.6 million flights a year, up from roughly 900,000 now, said John Harris, the city's first deputy aviation commissioner. He said the new capacity would let O'Hare accommodate demand projected "well beyond 2030."

Delays in bad weather, when O'Hare's problems are at their worst, would be reduced by 95 percent, officials said.

But relief would not be speedy. Even under optimistic projections, the new runway would take five to seven years to complete, officials said.

"Unless we make the investments proposed, the problems of delays and congestion will undermine the ability of O'Hare to compete both nationally and around the world," Daley said.

"And unless we make these investments, the long-term economic vitality and viability of O'Hare and the hundreds of thousands of jobs and tens of thousands of businesses in the city and the suburbs and collar counties that depend on it will be at stake," he said.

Daley also called for constructing a highway bypass on the west side of the airport, connecting the Northwest and Tri-State Tollways and tying into a proposed eastward extension of the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway.

The mayor discussed the prospect of extending the CTA Blue Line to Schaumburg; building a new rail line connecting O'Hare and Midway Airports; and improving the CTA's Blue and Orange Lines to accommodate express trains to both airports.

The costs of the transit improvements were not included in the $6 billion figure disclosed today.

Daley's announcement followed a last-minute campaign by officials of O'Hare's two largest airlines, United and American, to add two new runways to the airport.

The first legal salvo against Daley's plan could come from the Suburban O'Hare Commission, which represents 11 suburbs and the DuPage County Board. The commission sued in 1995 over a proposal to build two new terminals. The commission lost that fight, but it is appealing.

Joseph Karaganis, the commission's lawyer, said Thursday that no legal action would be considered until the governor responds to Daley's plan.

Daley, who until this year had maintained that O'Hare's capacity would be adequate until 2012, agreed in May to submit a runway-expansion plan to Ryan by July 1.

Daley and Ryan face a Sept. 1 deadline to reach a consensus on increasing airport capacity in the region or risk federal intervention, which would effectively mandate new runways at O'Hare without state or local input.

Ryan -- who previously has maintained that O'Hare cannot grow enough, even with several more runways, and who has maintained the region needs another airport -- responded cautiously to the today's announcement.

"I've been accused of blocking runways at O'Hare, but I've never seen a plan for runways. This will be the first," Ryan said. "I think it would be unfair of me if I didn't look at the proposal, share it with the right people, and talk about it and look at it and discuss it and try and keep an open mind on it."

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who proposed a July 1 deadline for an O'Hare plan from the city, reacted quickly and favorably to Daley's announcement.

In statement issued by his office, Durbin commended the mayor "for advancing a comprehensive plan that addresses not only congestion in the skies, but congestion on the roads and highways around O'Hare."

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Durbin pledged to "do everything I can to move this process forward."