A Shaky Take-Off For Massive O'Hare Expansion

Posted by: Brenda Meyer

4 October 2005 - 9:00am

The FAA approves a $15 billion budget to expand O'Hare airport -- and just as quickly, a federal court halts the project.

Mayor Richard Daley put the "$15 billion airport expansion in the same league as the city's rebuilding after the Great Fire of 1871, reversing the flow of the Chicago River and preservation of the lakefront."

But ...the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., tabled the FAA's decision until it can consider the opponents' arguments--that federal approval of the project is illegal on religious grounds and that the city should not be allowed to acquire and destroy property without first proving it can finance the project. It was not clear when the court would act."

Full Story: FAA approves O'Hare expansion

Source: The Chicago Tribune, October 3, 2005