South Suburban Airport
Planning for the South Suburban Airport began in 1984 as a cooperative venture between the states of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, the city of Chicago and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). After many studies, the airport location alternatives were narrowed to five sites in 1990.
The state of Illinois submitted an Environmental Assessment to FAA in March 1998 for the approval of development of an airport at a site in eastern Will County, Illinois. Recently, FAA prepared a Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for site approval and land acquisition. FAA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) on the Tier 1 EIS in July 2002, which approved the Will County, Illinois site as a technically and environmentally feasible location for the development of a potential future air carrier airport in the south suburban area of the greater Chicago region.
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) began purchasing land surrounding the Will County airport site in 2002 with funding of $75 million earmarked by the Illinois FIRST program.