City pushes forward with lofty O'Hare plans

Neither record oil prices, nor airline cutbacks, nor falling O'Hare passenger numbers can keep Rosemarie Andolino from her appointed rounds.

Andolino, the ebullient head of the O'Hare Modernization Program, plans next month to formally ask the feds if the city can spend $200 million in future passenger ticket tax revenue on the design for the second phase of the multibillion-dollar expansion project.

She'll ask, even though she suspects cash-strapped United and American airlines won't like the proposal. She thinks the Federal Aviation Administration will OK the city's request anyway, because the expansion must get done. The revenue is generated by a $4.50 ticket tax on each departing passenger. 

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