O'Hare runway plan flawed, say candidates

CHICAGO -- None of the seven candidates for Illinois governor wholly supports the airport expansion plan worked out by Gov. George Ryan and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

The sticking point for almost all of the candidates: a proposed southern runway at O'Hare International Airport that would require the demolition of about 500 homes in Bensenville.

"I just think that that's unfair to those people who live there," said Jim Ryan, Illinois attorney general and Republican gubernatorial candidate, who lived in Bensenville for more than 25 years and raised his family there. "I think that went too far, frankly."

Chicago officials say that southern runway is vital to the future of the airfield and allies in Washington are trying to get the deal codified into federal law, hoping to lock it in so that lawmakers can't meddle with it in the future. But that effort has stalled, and even if the agreement is cemented into federal law it's unclear what that would mean.

"There would still be opportunities for the next governor to have his or her input," said Democratic gubernatorial candidate Paul Vallas. "Nothing is ever locked in."

All of which means that "this is all up in the air," said Paul Green, a professor of public policy at Chicago's Roosevelt University. "It's an issue that seemingly has no end."

Third Chicago airport

Vallas, the former Chicago Public Schools chief, and U.S. Rep. Rod Blagojevich, another Democrat, both generally support the plan, which includes construction of a third airport near Peotone. But they equivocate on the southern runway.

Vallas said he's pleased that no construction can begin on that phase before 2011, which should give participants "time to determine the final feasibility to that."

Blagojevich, who is a co-sponsor of a House bill to place the plan into federal law, needs to be convinced about the southern runway and wants flight traffic monitored in the coming years to prove its worth.

"He supports the southern runway with the condition of actually proving the need for it," said Blagojevich spokeswoman Amanda Crumley.

Others, like Jim Ryan and state Sen. Patrick O'Malley, flatly oppose the southern runway. Ryan said that if elected he won't try to "rewrite history or undo the acts of the current governor." But when pressed on the matter, he said he cannot support that runway.

"I just think it destroys the whole community of Bensenville," he said.

Another of Ryan's rivals in the March primary, Lieutenant Gov. Corinne Wood, supports O'Hare expansion but is also unconvinced about the need for a new southern runway. She is concerned that any displaced residents be treated fairly and compensated adequately, said Wood spokeswoman Tressa Pankovits.

"She still has a lot of questions," Pankovits said.

All three Republicans back a third airport in Peotone, while O'Malley also favors using the Rockford Airport, located about 60 miles west of O'Hare.

Former Attorney General Roland Burris, a Democrat, opposes the southern runway but agrees that O'Hare needs to be reconfigured. But Burris, also a former comptroller who has run unsuccessfully for Chicago mayor and governor, calls the proposed south suburban airport "the one viable piece of this transportation puzzle."

He argues that Peotone would not only be an alternative for downstate air travelers, but would provide a much needed economic boost to Chicago's south suburbs and South Side.