Mayors Richard Hofeld of Homewood and Paul Braun of Flossmoor joined with U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), and local legislators in sending a message to Gov. J.B. Pritzker to support the South Suburban Airport.
Mayors Richard Hofeld of Homewood and Paul Braun of Flossmoor joined with U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), and local legislators in sending a message to Gov. J.B. Pritzker to support the South Suburban Airport.
At a press conference on Friday, May 3, Kelly said, “The time has come to finally build the South Suburban Airport. We know it will create thousands of good-paying jobs, boost our economy and allow Illinois to reclaim its aviation pre-eminence.”
Kelly and lawmakers also urge the governor to “apportion $150 million in the 2020 capital bill for initial off-site improvements — a new interchange on I-57, local road upgrades and connectivity to utilities.”
The actual airport, near Monee and Peotone, will be financed with private dollars.
There were more than 50 signatories on the letter to Pritzker, including Illinois Senators Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights), Napoleon Harris III (D-Harvey) and Michael Hastings (D-Frankfort), and Illinois Representatives Will Davis (D-Homewood), Anthony DeLuca, (D-Chicago Heights), Debbie Meyers-Martin (D-Olympia Fields) and Thaddeus Jones (D-Calumet City). The legislators represent Homewood and Flossmoor in Springfield.
The letter also stated the third airport has support from business, labor and community leaders.
Kelly said the plan for the third airport was first mentioned in 1985. Over more than three decades, Illinois has purchased 90 percent of the land at the proposed site, and has appropriated funds to purchase the last parcels.
The Federal Aviation Administration has approved 90 percent of the planning, including need, size, location and airspace. FAA only needs a detailed “master plan” to issue a final Record of Decision statement.
The signatories emphasize the financial benefits the airport will bring to the south suburban area and Northwest Indiana where more than 125,000 jobs have been lost in recent decades, according to the letter.
“Just as Midway and O’Hare spearheaded Illinois’ growth for the past century, the South Suburban Airport will be a cornerstone for prosperity in the 21st century…As proposed, it will create an economic engine south of Chicago that would generate tens of thousands of jobs, hundreds of millions in annual tax revenues and billions in new economic activity for Illinois,” the letter informed Pritzker.
Chicago is the only major metropolitan area without a third airport, and United and American both moved their primary domestic hubs out of O’Hare.