Scott Fitzgerald: “To my colleague from Illinois I say I am sure if I got an annual report of O'Hare and looked at the income statements…”

“To my colleague from Illinois I say I am sure if I got an annual report of O'Hare and looked at the income statements, they would include as airport revenues the funds they receive from whatever source--from airport improvement funds, from PFCs, from concessions, or any source that is part of total revenue. I differ on how this language reads. As I said earlier, there are safety issues raised by this project, this proposal. We currently have 25 taxi runway crossings at O'Hare. That brochure that I held up earlier that the FAA puts out on airport safety, one point it makes is layouts of airports that require aircraft and vehicles to cross runways need to be avoided. This goes on to say that every crossing represents a potential runway incursion. Vehicle crossings can be eliminated by constructing all-weather perimeter and service roads. At busy airports with a large volume of vehicles traveling from one side of the airport to the other, it may be cost beneficial to construct vehicle roadway tunnels under the runways. It goes on and emphasizes that the number of crossings, taxiway and runway crossings affect safety. My understanding is the current layout at O'Hare Airport has 25 taxiways and runway crossings, but this new plan would have 43. It is a much more complicated design. Under the standard set up by the FAA, in their own brochure, there could be an increased threat of a runway incursion.”