"Illinois Governor wants senators to help stop O'Hare bill"

Saturday, June 9, 2001

Ryan wants senators to help stop O'Hare bill
By Melanie Coffee


CHICAGO (AP) -- Gov. George Ryan said Saturday that he wants Illinois Sens.
Dick Durbin and Peter Fitzgerald to help stop a bill aimed at removing the
governor's power to block runway expansion at O'Hare International Airport.

``It's local control and I think any time the federal government wants to
take local control away it's wrong,'' Ryan said about legislation proposed
by U.S. Rep. William Lipinski, D-Chicago. ``There isn't a whole lot I can do
about it. Hopefully Sen. Durbin and Sen. Fitzgerald can help stop it, but I
don't know if that's possible.''

The bill introduced Thursday by Lipinski would prohibit Ryan from ruling on
city runway proposals before they are sent for final federal approval. In
Illinois and 17 other states, state officials first must approve projects
that will use federal transportation funds.

The bill would apply to all states where governors have the power to stop
airport construction.

Lipinski has said the bill is the only way to break the stalemate between
Illinois political leaders over how to solve O'Hare congestion problem that
create a domino effect of delays at airports across the nation.

O'Hare is the third-worst airport in the nation for delays, according to the
Federal Aviation Administration. The agency also predicts that O'Hare
flights will grow by 18 percent over the next decade, while capacity
increases just 6 percent.

Lipinski favors adding runways to O'Hare -- a proposal also supported by
Mayor Richard M. Daley and the major airlines.

Meanwhile, Ryan wants to build a new airport about 40 miles south of the
city in a rural area near Peotone. His proposal is supported by several
south suburban leaders and people in communities near O'Hare who do not want
the increased traffic and noise new runways would bring.

Fitzgerald, a Republican, supports building an airport in Peotone; Durbin, a
Democrat, also supports a third airport, but has not said where it should be
located.

Another proposal to help alleviate Chicago's air traffic congestion comes
from the mayors of Gary, Ind. and Rockford, who have proposed using their
airports as alternatives.

Ryan said using Gary as an alternative would siphon too much money from
Illinois.

``I'm the governor of Illinois and I don't want any folks from Illinois
going to Gary to use an airport,'' Ryan said. ``We need to keep those
dollars in Illinois, those jobs in Illinois and that's why I'm very
interested in doing what we're doing to promote better air safety and
traffic for both O'Hare and hopefully Peotone.''

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