July 30--Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday signed legislation that will increase the number of runways allowed at O'Hare International Airport to 10 from eight, an effort designed to expand flight paths and reduce jet noise affecting some Chicago neighborhoods and western suburbs since 2013.
The Chicago Department of Aviation previously had cited the eight-runway limit as the reason for the planned Aug. 20 closure of one of four diagonal runways that runs northwest to southeast. A second closure of a diagonal runway with the same alignment was planned for November 2019.
It's unclear whether the change will result in Chicago officials calling off the August closure and working with the Federal Aviation Administration to disperse the more than 2,400 daily flights at O'Hare across a wider number of runways pointing in a variety of directions.
"We will have to conduct a review to determine how best this fits into our plans," city aviation spokesman Owen Kilmer said.
Colleen Mulcrone, a member of Fair Allocation in Runways, said she hoped it would provide "the breathing room everyone has asked for to give the continued use of the diagonal runways full and thorough consideration."
A separate measure to prohibit Chicago from demolishing the diagonal runways at O'Hare did not clear the General Assembly.
Chicago Tribune's Jon Hilkevitch contributed from Chicago.
mcgarcia@tribpub.com
