"Illinois Governor Signs Bill for Chicago Airport Expansion"

Wednesday, August 6, 2003

Illinois Governor Signs Bill for Chicago Airport Expansion
The Chicago (IL) Tribune


Capping a long fight with suburban opponents, their elected officials and
one of the state's two U.S. senators, Gov. Rod Blagojevich today signed
legislation authorizing Chicago's $6.6 billion modernization of O'Hare
International Airport.

"Thank God this day has arrived," Mayor Richard Daley said at this morning's
bill-signing ceremony at O'Hare. "This is a great day not only for Chicago
but for the metropolitan area, the State of Illinois and the nation."

Describing the project -- intended to reduce flight delays, improve capacity
and make it easier to get to the airport -- as "long overdue," Blagojevich
said: "Illinois and Chicago will now, and as far into the future as we can
see, keep our pre-eminence as a world-class transportation center,
especially air transportation."

The General Assembly approved the O'Hare bill in May after the Daley
administration, stymied by U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald's threat to block a
Senate vote on similar federal legislation, moved efforts to codify the
airport project from Washington to Springfield.

Among other things, the state legislation limits the power of any future
governor to block the airport project.

Responding to suburban concerns, the bill narrows Chicago's ability to
acquire land beyond the city limits to the anticipated footprint of the
project, and provides $20 million over six years to compensate suburban
school districts for lost property tax revenue from land taken for the
airport expansion. The measure also provides for a western highway access to
the airport.

Fitzgerald has scheduled a news conference for Thursday to comment on
O'Hare.

Blagojevich was joined at today's bill-signing by Daley, other city, state
and federal officials, suburban mayors who have supported O'Hare expansion,
and business leaders and organized labor.

Andrew J. McKenna Sr., chairman of the Civic Committee of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, said, "O'Hare modernization will be the most important
economic development project undertaken in Illinois in our lifetime."

The project, Daley said, "will create an efficient state-of-the-art airport,
an airport for the 21st Century. It will modernize O'Hare, reduce delays,
save money for passengers and the airlines and make it easier for people
from across the nation and the world to travel to and from Chicago.

"It will generate an additional $18 billion of economic activity for our
state each year on top of the more than $38 billion it generates today. Best
of all, it will create 195,000 new jobs for the hard-working people of the
State of Illinois."

Daley also noted that because the project would be paid for by the airlines
in the existing passenger facility tax, "we are able to invest in these
improvements without asking local and state tax payers for one cent."

"Yes it's true that our nation's economy is in a down period. Chicago is
affected like every other city," the mayor said. "But the economy will
improve. The cities that prosper will be the ones that are now building the
airports and other infrastructure to take full advantage of the revived
economy.

"If we hold off on this project until the economy turns around, it will be
too late," Daley said. "We must proceed without delay."

Having recently reached a deal with the airlines to raise $2.9 billion for
the project's first phase, Daley said the last remaining step was obtaining
the Federal Aviation Administration's approval for the project.

"We need the continued support of everyone here -- to secure that approval
as quickly as possible," he said.

City aviation officials have said they hope to receive formal approval from
the FAA in about a year to allow construction to start. O'Hare officials
want to start building the first new runway, on the far north end of the
airport, by early 2005. The entire plan would take at least 12 to 15 years
to complete.


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