In the May 25 Tribune transportation section special, "O'Hare: Built in a
year," David Young draws a contrast between the rapid construction of O'Hare
Airport a half century ago and today's protracted efforts to build public
work projects. He cites the current O'Hare expansion and planning for "the
region's proposed third airport near south suburban Peotone."
A little
noticed advantage of long lead times is that policymakers have the opportunity
to reconsider the initial premise before final decisions are literally cast in
concrete. Two decades since Illinois taxpayers began footing the bill for
Peotone "studies," the question remains whether there's any public benefit to
paving over the farm fields of eastern Will
County.
Clearly, it's wrong to describe Peotone as the "region's
proposed third airport." In a 1988 report, IDOT acknowledged the state of Wisconsin's
contention that Milwaukee's Mitchell Field, which serves many people from
northern Illinois, is the third regional airport. In a 2008 report, IDOT
acknowledged the state of Indiana's contention that Gary-Chicago Airport - a
Midway-like facility that has yet to attract regularly scheduled commercial
passenger service - is the region's third airport.
Does Chicagoland
really need a fifth regional airport?
The Illinois General Assembly
should commission an independent study that considers all local infrastructure
costs, as well as actual and projected revenue losses that would result from
IDOT's plans to remove up to 35 square miles of eastern Will County real estate
from the tax rolls. The study should evaluate airport-related costs and benefits
based on various scenarios, including an assumption that a Peotone airport would
attract no daily commercial passenger service for many years, if
ever.
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