From: Bill Hough -------------------- City files emergency motion on O'Hare land ruling -------------------- By Gary Washburn Tribune staff reporter July 25, 2002, 4:39 PM CDT The Daley administration filed an emergency motion today, asking the Illinois Supreme Court to hear its appeal of a DuPage County judge's ruling that bars the city from acquiring land to expand O'Hare International Airport. "Because the expansion of O'Hare Airport is vital to our nation's air transportation system and our regional economy, we believe the Illinois Supreme Court should address this issue as quickly as possible," said Corporation Counsel Mara Georges. "Further delays will only make this project more costly and delay necessary improvements." Earlier this month, DuPage County Judge Hollis Webster ruled the city could not proceed with land acquisition for the $6.6 billion airport expansion unless it received a permit from the Illinois Department of Transportation. The city today also asked the Supreme Court to consolidate the land acquisition case with another pending case in which suburban opponents have sought to block construction of two new O'Hare terminals in the proposed World Gateway improvement project. The challengers contend an IDOT permit is required before construction can begin. A requirement to obtain permits would delay both projects by at least two years, driving up costs by hundreds of millions of dollars, according to city officials. "We hope to get both cases...reviewed on the same expedited basis," said Jennifer Hoyle, a Law Department spokeswoman. Copyright (c) 2002, Chicago Tribune -------------------- Improved archives! Searching Chicagotribune.com archives back to 1985 is cheaper and easier than ever. New prices for multiple articles can bring your cost down to as low as 30 cents an article: http://chicagotribune.com/archives