^ lol; strike two against the suburbs. ... LOL!!!

:haha:

^ In all fairness, the OHare expansion battle isn't Chicago vs. the suburbs. Most of the suburbs are in support of it, it's just a small handful of highly vocal towns next to OHare that are determined to stop this project.

Send in the military! Just kidding. It would be a lot simpler and probably quicker in the end if Chicago just walked in and bought out the WHOLE town.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,5575119.story

Court lets Chicago acquire cemetery

Tribune staff report
December 20, 2007

Chicago plans to obtain title to a cemetery on land needed for a new runway at O'Hare International Airport, after a federal court lifted an injunction on acquiring the property, city officials said Wednesday.

The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 14 lifted a more than 2-year-old injunction that prohibited the O'Hare Modernization Program from taking title to St. Johannes Cemetery in Bensenville, pending an expected appeal by the cemetery's owner, St. John's United Church of Christ, to the U.S. Supreme Court.

From Crain's

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-b...27746&seenIt=1

Chicago gets money for new O'Hare tower
(AP) — Chicago has procured federal funding for key parts of its expansion of O'Hare International Airport.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin says Chicago will get $42 million to cover the costs of a new air traffic control tower.

..

Jan 21 - 3 towers
 

Click on photos for full size.
Old
http://aycu03.webshots.com/image/395...7754702_rs.jpg

http://inlinethumb44.webshots.com/30...200x200Q85.jpg http://inlinethumb06.webshots.com/26...200x200Q85.jpg http://inlinethumb57.webshots.com/30...200x200Q85.jpg

New
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/428...4403410_rs.jpg

http://inlinethumb55.webshots.com/40...200x200Q85.jpg http://inlinethumb42.webshots.com/26...200x200Q85.jpg http://inlinethumb25.webshots.com/42...200x200Q85.jpg http://inlinethumb62.webshots.com/41...200x200Q85.jpg

Newest
http://aycu27.webshots.com/image/406...2157263_rs.jpg

Are they planning on updating the look of the Hilton at O'Hare???

Cool Harry. I really love these three towers - each designed in its own style by a great architect. What a nice way to come into a city.

That thing is beautiful as is. Along with the rest of the parts they haven't screwed up.

Agreed on both points! I really hope they don't mess up that Hilton...

Agreed.

It reminds me of a mini Watergate

O'hare Expansion
 

Dupage Judge Popejoy doing his best to abuse his position and delay the project.. he didn't show up
tuesday.... and then postpones a hearing on a test he ordered 4 months ago to May.....


How can the city allow a county court to delay this, when it has gotten all fed judiciary approval already..... ?


Briefs: O'Hare hearing postponed
Published: 2/29/2008 12:06 AMSend To:
A court hearing on the findings of an environmental analysis of the O'Hare International Airport expansion zone in Bensenville was again postponed to May 27. DuPage County Circuit Judge Kenneth Popejoy is expected to preside over the session. O'Hare Modernization Program officials are expected to present the results of their environmental tests at that time. Bensenville attorneys said they have not yet seen the results. However, they expect Popejoy to grant the village at least six weeks for its own environmental experts to review the

Its dirty politics Chicago style reversed!!!

They need to get on with it.The Feds had already stated years ago that
the runways would happen no matter what Chicago,Bensenville or anyone else did.The delays are worse at O'hare then they have ever been(even worse
that during the PATCO strike)Its costing the airlines billions of dollars a year in fuel and cancelled flights.They like to blame everything on Weather.When
you see an airport like DFW running 90 arrivals an hour during a major summertime thunderstorm causing crosswinds you have to wonder how much politics plays into the delays at O'hare.They will complete the runways and for around 2 years things will be great.Then they will decide they need somthing else and delays will begin to come back.It started back in the
1990's when they needed new towers and an updated computer system.

The cause is more Federal than local.Its called an agenda.

fuck NIMBYs because a small population will be affected as apposed to a lot more people because you have to build freeways to the airport.

We need to charge DuPage residence a service fee to use the airport to pay for all the delays they are causing!

^ Elk Grove Village is in Cook. Bensenville is partially in Cook. Des Plaines is in Cook. This is not Cook vs. Dupage. It's about everyone vs. 3 or 4 suburbs.

I think the land grab Chicago did is good and bad.They should not have
been allowed to take the land,but since they did it will help keep the NIMBY
filled towns from holding up any project until hell freezes over.
Other states have state and local run airport athorities that hande most of the big airports.Chicago handles everything.Lets not forget most of the Ohare travelers come from the suburbs anyway.ALL OF THE OHARE LAND
WAS TAKEN FROM SUBURBAN TOWNSHIPS STARTING IN THE MID 1950'S!

By the way,I am all for ORD expansion.It needs to be done if Chicagoland
wants to stay on top of the transportation system in this country.
Right now O'hare is in real bad shape.Politics and ATC are killing O'hare.
ATL,DFW all want more.Other small cities have also built big new terminals
and are trying to steal some of the business from Chicago.These runways
should have been done in 1995!

^ Who cares about national prominence or "staying on top of the transportation system in this country". Most people and businesses here couldn't care less about whether O'Hare is the busiest airport in the world. They mostly care about the fact that it's expensive to fly in and out of Chicago and want to be able to do it for less money. That is why this expansion is so important. More runways and gates will mean more takeoffs and landings which hopefully will mean cheaper travel.

Interesting concept, but why not expand Midway, or create a third major airport??? O'Hare is so heavily trafficked at this point, adding a few terminals (or whatever the plan) will just make it busier. Air traffic is of course the larger concern over foot and car traffic.

Midway cannot be expanded, and the runway config basically sucks. Southwest will continue to control the "footpring" at Midway, much like Houston Hobby, Dallas Love field, and Burbank.

Gary is trying to draw in more service, and has grabed some charters and start-ups. The peotone idea is horrid; the FAA will not let it survive in its current form.

Ciao,
AWACS

There is no room for growth for Midway.

The [Peotone] 3rd airport option is moving rather slowly right now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propose...burban_airport

Some say Mitchell airport in Milwaukee already is the 3rd Chicagoland airport.

Rockford [Chicago-Rockford International airport] http://www.flyrfd.com/

and Gary [Chicago-Gary International airport] http://www.garychicagoairport.com/fastfacts.asp

are competing for more growth.

Notice how Rockford and Gary put the name Chicago first in their name.

They don't care that it has the title "the busiest", but O'hare is a very important consideration for business location on account of it being both a domestic and international hub for 2 of the biggest airlines in the world, so its overall connectivity throughout the country and throughout the world is top notch. Being "world's busiest" or whatever is just a symptom of that, but it's not unrelated.

I would say "world's busiest" is more important than it sounds. The reason is that this title gets thrown around a lot in the media and in business circles, and every time you hear it, you think, "Wow, Chicago has a lot to juggle and manage with its airport system." Despite the delays etc, I always was impressed by Chicago's operation and ability before I moved here. Without the title, you don't get that advertising or recognition.

I am not saying that one should place titles like this in a position above other practical considerations, but they do have benefits.

There are serious benefits to being a transportation hub. As a consumer, it means there will be flights to anywhere. The connectivity helps the business and financial sectors. But then there is the simple economics of it. A lot of people work at O'Hare. Even if people never leave the airport and just catch a connecting flight to somewhere else, their money gets cycled into the Chicagoland economy.

I'm glad that this expansion is happening. I think it's needed to maintain O'Hare's importance and thus keep money flowing into Chicago.

I did some gross estimates a while back, comparing Chicago to similar but non-hub cities, and while there are other factors, I think being a major hub benefits Chicago by about 0.5% additional growth every year (as in 1.5% vs. 2.0%, not as in 1.5% vs 1.5075%) using broad basis stats that would indirectly account for both direct and indirect impacts, and at least $2 billion a year in additional economic value over and above just being a major airport using only direct impacts. If you factored in indirect impacts, the hub dollar value might be as much as 3-5 times as high.

In other words, O'Hare's hub value is probably one of the biggest single things contributing to Chicago's long-term health and keeping it as a major hub should rightly be viewed as do-or-die for area leaders.

I've never understood the drive for Peotone. Rockford is about the same distance from downtown Chicago, and tying Chicago and Rockford (and, by extension, Madison) better together is in the best interest of all parties. If Illinois and Chicago put the investment of a Peotone-type airport into Rockford, it would benefit a lot more Illinois residents than one in Peotone would.

In reality, helping expand Milwaukee, Gary and Rockford would help cement Chicago as the hub of a super-region than ignoring our neighbors and building a new airport from scratch. Not playing nice with our neighbors doesn't help anyone.

Peotone is much closer than Rockford(~45 miles vs. ~85 miles), but still too far away. Gary is where it's at.

Rockford is barely closer than Milwaukee, and Milwaukee is much more convenient in terms of accessibility for the heavily-populated far north suburbs. The people for whome Rockford is mildly convenient are much more conveniently located to O'hare. Peotone's justifiability will hinge on the direction of Will County's economy. Generally, it has had a very strong economy with substantial job growth and even faster residential growth. If these continue to the point where major companies are considering setting up HQs and Will keeps growing into the pre-eminent logistics/distribution center of the US economy, then an airport at Peotone could make sense.

:previous: Which is why IDOT is buying land now, so that they can build a DFW/DEN-sized airport without having to go through all this bullshit coming with O'Hare Modernization.

GYY is definitely worth expanding and luring for commercial service. You could build an airport the size of EWR there. But even then, it would buy another 15 years of air capacity at the most, and it doesn't even begin to address air cargo and intermodal transport.

Yeah, no argument from me on acquiring the Peotone/Monee land now. I can definitely envision the possibility wherein 10-15 years it's looking like a necessary project....but it's been about 10-15 years away for a few decades now. Not until the most recent economic boom has the Will County economy really started to take off again, so if that continues, the case will be a great deal stronger; if anything, the strongest justification to me is as a freight hub because of its Will County location near so many rail/truck intermodal facilities. Gary serves existing population and already has significant transportation infrastructure serving, so it's a no-brainer to use it for LCC spillover.

To bad Gary was not in Illinois. That would be the choice hands down.
The other problem for Peotone, its on a line wich could be called tornado
alley. If you watch thunderstorm and tornado paths during the summer
they do follow the line of the lake starting up in Wisconsin and going down by Rockford on into northern Indiana(20 miles south of the lake). The urban buildup also helps stop Tornado's but Peotone has more severe weather than O'hare and Midway. Even as close as the south side of Chicago gets more severe weather than O'hare as they are on the edge of the systems heading around the lake.

GOOD NEW!!!!!!

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=28677

O'Hare expansion clears legal hurdle

...In a decision released midday Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said expansion foes have no legal standing to object to a $29-million grant for the project from the Federal Aviation Administration.

:banana:

I think I'd rather have Gary be in another state. :haha:

In fact, I'm not sure it is far enough away. That is why I propose that we make Gary part of Michigan for that extra layer of comfort.

You would think Mayor Craig Johnson, who has a thicker Chicago accent than Daley.... would be for..

Chicago close to taking first Elk Grove site
City says it's working on purchase, but mayor fighting it
By Ames Boykin | Daily Herald StaffContact writerPublished: 3/27/2008 12:22 Rosemarie Andolino, executive director of the O'Hare Modernization Program, said the city has been working with the property owner, Elk Grove Village-based Arthur J. Rogers & Co., and is eyeing only the property needed for the lighting. The single-story office building at 1651-57 Carmen Drive will be spared.

"We've been working together. That's the city's approach to acquiring property," Andolino said.
But Johnson said Chicago is violating a property owner's rights.
"It should turn our stomach to hear another municipality is taking property from this municipality," Johnson said.
An official with Arthur J. Rogers didn't return phone calls Wednesday.
Johnson said he awaits Chicago's permit request at village hall for the lighting, suggesting a possible wrinkle.
"Last time I looked, we didn't have anything in our laws allowing landing lights," Johnson said.
Andolino, however, said the state law clearing the way for the expansion project lets Chicago proceed with its plans without local permits.

Chicago has acquired the 126 acres it needed in Des Plaines for the project. This would be the first property of the 14.8 acres it needs to acquire in Elk Grove Village. In Bensenville, more than 540 homes and businesses have been acquired.

Work at O'Hare is on schedule, Andolino said. "We're going to be landing planes on that runway in 238 days from today," she said. "When there were a lot of naysayers … it's done."
Elk Grove Village and Bensenville have led the suburban fight against Chicago's plans, using lawsuits to try to stop new runways.
Elk Grove Village trustees on Tuesday night showed no signs of abandoning that cause, voting to add another $500,000 to spend on the litigation tied to its battle.

^ So this is how China is able to to build a nationwide highway system at pennies on the dollar...

$500,000 more for the litigation fund? And how many millions have they spent so far? That's like each resident of Elk Grove paying an outrageous tax to use a modernized airport thanks to a hotheaded mayor. They need to dump his ass out next election.

To bad he has such a common name - I think he should be added to a permanent "Do Not Fly" list for O'Hare ...

Things are starting to change there, too. As urban residents get more property rights, they're starting to get the hang of NIMBYism and the government, in order to keep the people from organizing, is trying to accomodate at least some of them because if it doesn't the newly property-owning classes might decide to organize into real opposition which would be a disaster on several fronts. [EDIT: From the PRC government's standpoint]

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=28819

City preparing to finish design of O'Hare expansion
By: Paul Merrion April 02, 2008

With the first new runway of the O’Hare Modernization Program nearing completion, Chicago is gearing up to finish designing how the rest of the airport expansion will look.

The major airlines at O’Hare have yet to agree to pay for the second and much larger phase of the project, but the city is seeking approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to use $200 million in future ticket-tax collections for detailed design and engineering drawings of another new runway, a new western terminal and access point, plus other improvements.

The wets terminal is supposed to be for domestics not named United/American correct? I wonder with it not being a hub terminal if we are really going to see anything that spectacular. I am anticipating something quality yet unspectacular which wouldn't be the end of the world. I am a bit surprised American wouldn't want to consider moving to a new suave terminal to one up United's. Maybe they feel it would be too far away from the international terminal and their code share partners to be make the move.

I thought the Western Terminal was going to be used for international flights and including gates for the A380 and a new Terminal 4 was going to be built for the non-hub carriers. Who knows with the completion date 5-8 years out.

My impression was that the long range plan was that more international gates would be T4 and be right next to T5 which was the original location of the World Gateway program.

Of course with alliances international airlines could also want to dock at a a huge west terminal 7 with for easy connection with other non American/United domestic partners. Time will tell I guess.

e.g. the pleasant but thoroughly underwhelming Midway Airport.

O'Hare is looking better and better every time I fly out of it. They've added nice glass fronts, LCD screens toting the city's highlights at all the revamped escalators, etc. Even the baggage claim is getting a much needed face lift. It all looks pretty nice and I hope the add on will keep this new feel. I would say though, they could take a few design que's from Denver International, BEAUTIFUL airport.

DIA is not so beautiful when you are trapped in it for 3 days...

underwhelming? yeah but its easy, fast and looks good for an airport(for all I care about how airports look. I want in/out fast and easy and I guess as a second thought looks good and Midway does all that)

Yeah, my first choice is always Southwest if they fly to my chosen destination, Midway is a much more pleasant experience overall than O'hare. But there's nothing the least bit awe-inspiring, or even particularly architecturally interesting, about the terminal and concourses. Almost all buildings of O'hare have some aesthetic/architectural merit; though much of the tasty SOM-60s-modernism of Terminals 2 and 3 is now gone, the replacements are pretty appealing overall. Given O'hare is the "flagship", or primary world gateway to Chicago, it makes sense to give it a little more oomph in the wow department. Midway is a Low Cost Airport for Low Cost Carriers.

^ Yeah, I miss the old O'Hare buildings. By the way, those were a CF Murphy job, although most of the people working at Murphy had jumped ship from SOM anyway.

I think Midway serves its purpose, but from a design standpoint, it is a missed opportunity. I am hoping we see much better from the O'Hare expansion.

Oh my mistake, you're right about CF Murphy on that one. I really enjoyed that aesthetic, though they were looking decidedly aged and dusty by the time renovation started. Similar issue to the downtown subway stations, where the aesthetic is actually solid and attractive but the ravages of decades of sub-par maintenance hide the potential under a layer of grime. End result being the notion of "preservation", which in these instances would probably be the cheaper option consisting mostly of cleanup(<-- key point), is laughed off because "why would you want to save these crummy things?" At least the replacement finishes at O'hare have been pretty tasteful, and maintain a certain sense of updated Modernism.

And Jahn's United Terminal really doesn't need too much comment :) though Goldberger's NYT commentary is decent:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...pagewanted=all

So the new express lines that are running from O'Hare to B37, they are using the existing blue lines? Are they adding any? Is that why northbound on the Kennedy is down to one lane every night? What about Midway, are they building express lines there as well? This seems like a pretty important project, but there seems to be little information about it.