Residents of the northwest suburbs are being bombarded daily by pro-expansion advocates who tell us that O’Hare International Airport must be expanded. Details of the plan are omitted. Only the urgency for the Senate to pass the Mayor Richard Daley-Gov. George Ryan aviation act is stressed.
Why?
Proponents are pulling hard to pass the measure immediately before we, the people, elect a new governor in Illinois, after which the plan can be fully analyzed. Full examination may reveal why the airlines are not using available runways at Gary, Rockford and Milwaukee airports.
As an elected official in Arlington Heights, I must object to these tactics on behalf of the people who will be affected by the addition of at least 700,000 flights annually in already overcrowded O’Hare airspace and the effects of vastly increased pollution.
I also wish to publicly express my thanks to Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, who is living up to his campaign promise to fight O’Hare expansion.
