CHICAGO (Diya TV) — Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi on Tuesday hosted a job summit in the Chicago suburbs on the economic impact of developing western access to O’Hare International Airport at a bipartisan gathering of key stakeholders, including government, business and labor leaders.
Rep. Krishnamoorthi held the event in Schaumburg and led discussion of the economic benefits the infrastructure project would bring to Chicago’s west and northwest suburbs, according to a press release from his office. He was joined by a panel of speakers that included Illinois State Toll Highway Authority Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom, DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin, and Marc Poulos, Executive Director of the Foundation for Fair Contracting and a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150.
“I’m glad we could bring together leaders from across the community to discuss the economic benefits of this project and the need to see it completed,” said Rep. Krishnamoorthi. “Simply put, the Elgin O’Hare Western Access Project will create jobs. This is one of the best investments we can make for our community to strengthen our economy, our infrastructure, and our entire transportation system. Western access to O’Hare will also ease traffic for the surrounding communities and allow O’Hare to become the 21st century airport we all need.”
Krishnamoorthi circulated a letter to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to urge the board to support economic development in allowing the Western Access to O’Hare project to proceed.
“With more than a billion dollars from Tollway, local and federal partners already invested in construction, completion of the Elgin O’Hare Western Access Project, a project of national and regional significance, is of vital importance to the western suburbs, Chicago and the Midwest,” said Illinois Tollway Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom. ” No other project has the potential to come close to delivering much-needed improvements to mobility and economic opportunities that will support the creation of 65,000 jobs for decades to come.”
More than a dozen elected officials from across the state attended the event, as well as a who’s who of industry experts from various communities across Illinois.