O'Hare Expansion gets Praised—and Panned

As earthmoving equipment roared in the background and jetliners swooped overhead, two top U.S. House Republicans on Monday praised the progress being made on the $15 billion expansion of O'Hare International Airport, even though the project is behind schedule and over budget.

"I know there's some talk of overruns. I don't know of any project in the country that we've done where we don't have some unforeseen costs," Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) said. "But every day we delay we will have additional costs. I've never seen construction costs go down or the cost of materials go down."

Mica, GOP leader of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and former head of the aviation subcommittee, toured O'Hare with Illinois Rep. Dennis Hastert, a longtime advocate of the project, and Chicago aviation officials.

The two congressmen pledged to press the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Transportation and Illinois' two Democratic senators to provide "whatever assistance is necessary" to move the project forward.

One of the expansion project's harshest critics, Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson, called the visit by Mica and Hastert a "dog and pony show" orchestrated by O'Hare Modernization Program officials to put a positive spin on a troubled project.

Johnson said a construction bid has yet to be accepted for the northernmost runway, money has run out for land acquisition, and opponents have tied up the project in court.

"They want to give the impression that everything is great," Johnson said. "But it's years behind schedule, way over budget, and there's nothing to show but some piles of dirt."

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