ORD runway question - the opening of the new 9C-27C, and closure of 14R-32L, are supposed to both be completed by 2020. But is the closure of 4L-22R supposed to be part of this (or follow it immediately) due to, say, the fact that they intersect? Closure of 4L-22R always sounded only like a vague long-term aspiration as the airfiled re-orients to an E-W focus, and I've never seen anything actually suggesting it was planned and certainly have never seen any year attached to it. In fact, I think I've even seen mentions of ORD riding off into the sunset as an 8-runway airfield.
However, I just noticed the below article from last summer that says Ginger Evans "has indicated it's likely the city will eventually close" 4L-22R. So has there ever been anything concrete suggesting it is already planned for the 2020s? Or is the idea that if a later 2nd or 3rd island concourse of a future western terminal encroaches on the path of 4L-22R then in that case it would have to be decommissioned?
Incidentally, there would seem to be one big upside to closing the runway - with slight taxiway shifting Concourse C could instantly accommodate more jumbo jets, or it could even be expanded with a perpendicular "finger" westward from its midpoint, or even an entirely new, parallel island concourse could be added to the west of Concourse C (at this point you could call it Concourse D, since the old "D" seems to have disappeared from T2), and Concourse E too could be extended due westward (while we're at it, make it more accessible by putting some kind of express corridor on the roof of E, like with moving sidewalks and limited access back to the main floor). In fact, these would presumably be cheaper options than actually building a new western terminal, if the need (physical, political, or otherwise) for a western terminal in the medium term is outweighed by its marginal cost over this C/D/E idea.
www.dailyherald.com/article/20150820/news/150829901
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