FAA OKs O'Hare expansion, court grounds it October 1, 2005 BY DAVE NEWBART AND LYNN SWEET Staff Reporters Within hours of a celebratory groundbreaking on a project that would greatly expand O'Hare Airport, a federal court stopped construction crews Friday so it could consider a challenge from opponents who claim the plan is too costly and disruptive to area residents and businesses. The temporary stay approved by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., halts the city's $7.25 billion project until the court can decide whether to hear the case. It gave no timeline for a ruling. The court action "is great news,'' said Wade Nelson, spokesman for the villages of Bensenville and Elk Grove, which brought the emergency petition after the Federal Aviation Administration officially signed off on the plan Friday morning. "We've been confident all along that the facts were on our side.'' Late Friday, city officials said in a statement, "We are confident that the O'Hare Modernization Program will withstand any and all judicial challenges and we will implement the program as planned." 'Historic step forward' The ruling came just after a city-led ceremony on a grassy field at the northwest corner of O'Hare, which is to be home to a new runway under the expansion plan. A long list of business leaders and city, state and national politicos -- including Mayor Daley and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) -- took turns congratulating one another, then donned hard hats, grabbed shovels and mugged for cameras as they dug into the ground. Daley then gave the signal via cell phone to a backhoe several hundred yards away. It began scooping dirt as part of site preparation. This is "an historic step forward'' that will expand "the state's leading economic engine,'' Daley said The groundbreaking came during a whirlwind day in which the FAA announced it had approved the city's expansion plan 3-1/2 years after the city proposed it. "O'Hare is now cleared for takeoff," FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey said soon after the city was formally notified of the decision. The expansion brings "greater safety and greater capacity. This means more flights, much better on-time performance to literally millions of Americans around the country," Blakey said. But Blakey acknowledged that financing for the $7.25 billion first stage of expansion is not in place. The FAA said the average flight delay at O'Hare -- by the time expansion is completed in 2013 -- should be 5.2 minutes, including the additional taxiing time it will take over a much larger airfield. That compares with between 15 and 20 minutes today. While that reduction is not as dramatic as the city had predicted, the FAA's projections assume the airport will be much busier by 2018. The FAA did not say what O'Hare's new flight capacity would be, nor would officials say how long the new configuration could reduce delays beyond then. But in their emergency filing Friday, opponents of the plan said the city's proposal was "fatally flawed in numerous different respects.'' It disputes whether the FAA did a thorough analysis of whether the city could truly raise the money for the project, which could cost more than $14 billion. FAA optimistic on financing The FAA gives "the green light to the ... most costly and complex airport reconstruction project in the nation's history without engaging in any meaningful analysis of whether the funding can ever be amassed,'' the filing says. The FAA should not have given the city permission to acquire more than 500 homes, nearly 200 businesses and an entire cemetery before doing this analysis, it claims. It also says the FAA's ruling violates the religious rights of the members of St. John's United Church of Christ, which runs the 150-year-old St. Johannes cemetery on city land. About 1,300 graves would be relocated. Barry Cooper, who oversaw the modernization plan for the FAA's Chicago-area office, said before the court's ruling that the agency believes the financing will come through. The city said the cost would be covered mainly by airport revenue bonds, passenger fees and federal grants. In making its announcement Friday, the FAA did not say whether the city's request for $300 million will be granted. The bonds, city officials said, will be paid off by the airlines, a cost that will go as high as $1 billion by 2022. City officials said no local or state tax dollars would be used toward the project. MODERNIZATION Cost: $7.25 billion Purpose: Reduce delays (projected to go from average of 17.1 minutes to 5.2 minutes) and increase capacity. Runways: Shift from intersecting to parallel. New terminal: Western facility would add airline gates and parking. New link: People-mover to shuttle among terminals. Who pays: Passengers (via facility charges); airlines (they back airport revenue bonds); federal taxpayers. Who moves: 530 residences, nearly 200 businesses, St. Johannes cemetery. Land needed: 433 acres in Chicago, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village and Bensenville. City of Chicago, AP