<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Gosh I dont know what he's trying to pull, but ORD needs both runways quickly, now. I wish he'd just go for full blown expansion as soon as possible, but of course he's a political mastermind and might have something up his sleeve. </font>
Chitown, this is an example of Daley being a realist & dealmaker. He has a much better chance of getting approval for 1 runway now that doesn't have to eat up as much suburban land as 2 would. It could also help get Gov. Ryan off the hook a bit if he approves it especially since he doesn't want to lose veto power on runways to Congress. Daley also is offering the western 'burbs what they've wanted for some time, better access to ORD and easing of traffic (Coincidence that Speaker Hastert represents the western 'burbs? Could this by any chance help w/ Federal funding of the project?
). Besides, with reconfiguration of the current runways, 1 new one may be all that's needed. You are right about one thing, though, Daley is a political genius which is one of the reasons he's doing such a great job as mayor. I'll miss getting to vote for him when I move into the 'burbs.
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Regards,
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Anna