Group choosing overnight O'Hare runway rotation could grow
An advisory group grappling with how to distribute jet noise evenly around the region at night may get a little louder.
The O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission's Governance Committee on Thursday is expected to consider increasing the Fly Quiet Committee's size from 11 to 13 members.
Towns in the running include Itasca and Park Ridge, both of which get an earful from O'Hare International Airport jet traffic. The Fly Quiet Committee has the dubious honor of choosing runways to be used in a weekly rotation once an expansion project at O'Hare International Airport is completed in 2021.
O'Hare's switch to an east/west flight pattern in 2013 caused unexpected airplane noise in neighborhoods across the suburbs and city. To at least give residents relief at night, the noise commission tried out several test rotations in 2016 and 2017
The Fly Quiet Committee needs "to be a dedicated working group striving for a solution," that's geographically balanced and isn't so large it's unwieldy, noise commission Chairwoman and Mount Prospect Mayor Arlene Juracek said.
Last May, noise commission members voted to add Elmhurst and Wood Dale to the committee, causing some hard feelings for Park Ridge officials who said the town gets little relief from the din of airplanes.
Local governments interested in joining the Fly Quiet Committee can contact the noise commission at www.oharenoise.
Other members of the Fly Quiet Committee are: Bensenville, Des Plaines, Harwood Heights, Niles, River Grove, Schaumburg, Schiller Park and Chicago, which has two representatives.
Any decisions by the Governance Committee would require a vote by the full ONCC board.