Chicago, airlines agree on last runway in O'Hare overhaul

CHICAGO (AP) - The city of Chicago and two major airlines have reached a $1.3 billion deal to build the final runway in the overhaul of O'Hare International Airport.

The agreement between the city, United Airlines and American Airlines was announced Saturday. Construction will begin in May with the new runway opening in 2020.

For years, Chicago has been untangling O'Hare's six crisscrossing runways and rearranging them in a safer, more efficient side-by-side layout. It's supposed to unclog one of the nation's worst aviation bottlenecks.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel tells Crain's Chicago Business the city went after the deal "like a heat-seeking missile." He tells the Chicago Tribune his goal is to make O'Hare the nation's best airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration is contributing $345 million to the project.