Will County Executive Larry Walsh (March 1 guest column) prefers IDOT's airport layout plan over one drafted by the Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission.

Maybe Walsh forgot that the current "IDOT" plan was ALNAC's original plan — which he formerly opposed.

Ironically, ALNAC was forced to revise its original plan because Will County officials inexplicably authorized Bult Field, a tiny private airport once destined for demolition, to expand and re-open in the middle of the footprint of the proposed new commercial airport.

To better picture what Walsh did, consider this. It's like authorizing Meigs Field to relocate in the middle of O'Hare Airport.

Because Will County did that, ALNAC shifted its original plan to separate the two airports by one mile — specifically to avert safety and security concerns, resolve conflicts in air spaces and avoid costly and lengthy litigation.

If Walsh were trying to delay the new airport, he couldn't have done a better job.

Hmm.

I will address some of Walsh's other blatant misstatements.

 Walsh noted ALNAC "refused to engage in meaningful negotiations" led by Sen. Barack Obama. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sen. Obama initiated talks at my urging. But when he saw that Walsh and his Will County cronies refused to negotiate, he ended the talks.

 Walsh says ALNAC's plan puts Peotone and Beecher directly under the flight paths. Wrong. ALNAC's closest east-west runway is a mile north of both communities. Conversely, the "IDOT" plan (endorsed by Walsh) shows a future runway aimed directly at both communities.

 Walsh says ALNAC's revised airport is bigger than the "IDOT." plan Wrong. ALNAC's ultimate plan grows to three runways. IDOT's grows to four. So no matter how you spin it, a three-runway airport is smaller than a four-runway airport.

At this point, a little historical perspective may be helpful. When the state began planning the "third airport" 20 years ago, IDOT proposed a six-runway, 150-gate airport. That billion-dollar plan was dead on arrival because no one would finance such a huge, risky project.

ALNAC radically downsized the airport to one runway and five gates and was able to secure commitments for $300 million in private funding from two world-class airport builders.

In short, ALNAC forced the state to rethink its concept and make it financially feasible. That's why Gov. Blagojevich publicly endorsed ALNAC two years ago. Since then IDOT has made little progress.

As for Walsh, he's done nothing to build a commercial airport. Despite years of nay-saying and approving obstacles such as Bult Field, Will County officials have never produced an airport plan, never raised a dime to pay for it and never formed an airport commission to run it — all necessary components if you're serious about building an airport.

Hmm.