O’Hare Expansion Price Tag Soars To $14.8 Billion

Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has a bad case of gridlock, but the plan to fix it with two new runways keeps developing convolutions of its own, growing more and more expensive. Originally proposed as a $6.6 billion plan in 2001, the expansion now includes two new terminals and upgrades around the field, for a total price tag of $14.8 billion, the Chicago Tribune reported Sunday. Critics said the price inflation only proves the plan is not feasible. “I still believe the city’s figures … are on the low side,” Joseph Del Balzo, a consultant hired by local groups that oppose the expansion, told the Tribune. The airport plan is slated to be complete by 2013, enabling O’Hare to handle 1.6 million flights a year.