Peotone proponents want to nab cargo too

September 11th, 2009 at 11:54am Thomas V. Bona

So not only do backers of the “South Suburban Airport” want it to be Chicago’s third major passenger airport, they also want it to be the third major cargo airport (or fourth, depending on if you count Milwaukee):

The state and county plan to develop a cargo airport as part of an ambitious multimodal transport complex that will include up to four intermodal rail yards, access to three interstate highways, and up to 135 million square feet of industrial warehousing and distribution space, 20 percent of which currently sits vacant due to the economic downturn.

There is one major obstacle, however: One of the world’s most established cargo airports, O’Hare International, sits only 40 miles away.

State and county officials seem unfazed. As they see it, the “South Suburban Airport” will offer a compelling alternative to O’Hare, with its lower airline landing fees, less-congested airside and landside operations, and convenient connections to Interstates 55, 57, and 65 as well as to intermodal rail services. “Our point of distribution is more friendly than O’Hare’s,” says John Grueling, president and CEO of the Will County Center for Economic Development.

Rockford is mentioned as an example of how the area could support multiple cargo airports. There’s been much talk about whether a Peotone airport would hurt Rockford’s efforts to draw more passenger traffic, but cargo seems to be a bigger threat. Passengers from downtown Chicago and the south suburbs aren’t going to do much driving to Rockford, and those in the northwest burbs aren’t going to Peotone. But cargo operations looking to serve Chicagoland or the Midwest in general don’t care where they are in the region as long as they’re near interstates and rail.

Will County’s push to become a bigger and bigger logistics hub - Chuck Sweeny notes that Union Pacific is building yet another intermodal facility there - might have an effect on Rockford’s push to do the same. Or maybe not … Chicago is pretty big and could use a few logistics centers. But the airport could be an interesting wrinkle…

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