CHICAGO — Less delays and more flights out of O’Hare International Airport may finally be on the horizon as a $6 billion modernization project is finally complete after 16 years in the making.
Construction began on the project in 2010 and ended Thursday, completing a project that aims to create thousands of jobs over a long period of time.
The project features eight completed runways that will help reduce delays, changing the runway into a series of parallel east-west runways to help increase space.
System impact delays have reduced by 64 percent when comparing 2003-2008 to 2009-2020.
“I’m happy to say that this year alone, we had 140+ businesses make a pro-Chicago decision, and part of the reason that companies have relocated to Chicago from other parts of the country is because of our incredible modern transportation system which centers around O’Hare Airport,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.
Lightfoot also added that the plan hopes to introduce around 3,000 good-paying union jobs, while planning to introduce 500 new aircraft by 2024.