Opinion

Myriad reasons we need Peotone

Posted April 25, 2009 11:00 pm

A letter in the April 9 Daily Herald bemoans Illinois spending anything to prepare the Peotone site for use as an airport. That letter could not be more wrong. It says "Chicago does not need this (Peotone) airport."

Three-fourths of Chicagoland does not live in Chicago, and half or more of Chicagoland is poorly served by O'Hare. Ours is the only major metropolitan area in the country served by only one major airport. All our eggs are in one basket. When there is a problem at O'Hare, the entire country feels it.

Expansion of O'Hare is not necessary, is extremely expensive, inadvisable, involves poor logistics and significant safety risks.

The supposed cost of expanding O'Hare was, last I heard, $15 billion. But that figure didn't include all the elements of the expansion. If that money were applied to Peotone, the metropolitan area could have a second major airport. People in the southern and southwestern parts of the metropolitan area would have an airport. The Peotone airport would have different airlines using it as a hub, which would open travel and cargo options. There are many reasons Chicagoland needs the Peotone airport.

Peter G. Malone

St. Charles

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