More than 17 years after the Waukegan National Airport’s runway reached the end of its useful life and more than two years after a proposal to build a new one became a controversial subject dividing the community, circumstances changed again.
Airport General Manager Skip Goss said in early 2023, regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) required a 7,000-square-foot runway. Plans for the new airstrip included a purchase of 52 acres of land from the Lake County Forest Preserves District.
Some members of the Forest Preserves Board of Commissioners and the environmental community objected to public lands being used for an airport. Environmental groups balked at the proposal, and the FAA dragged its feet preparing a Final Draft Environmental Assessment.
After anticipating the environmental assessment and a public hearing as soon as two years ago, it was not forthcoming. The FAA failed to explain the delay as the public debate continued.
Last year, Goss said the FAA revised its guidelines, shortening the length of the runway to 6,000 feet. The reduction necessitates ¼ acre of forest preserve land rather than 52 acres. Yet another draft preliminary assessment is being prepared to kickstart the process once again.
“This has always been a safety project. The numbers were what they had to be to make the runway safe,” Goss said. “We will work as quickly and expeditiously as possible,” he added, referring to getting the new assessment ready.
Airport officials plan to submit a revised Preliminary Draft Environmental Assessment to the FAA and schedule a public hearing early next year to get final approval to start construction on a new runway.
Glad the new guidelines remove some of the barriers the Waukegan Port District — it owns and operates the airport — faced with the community, Goss said he is happy to see a situation that will get a runway that complies with FAA guidelines.
“This has been going on for years,” Goss said. “We need this new runway. Now we can make it 6,000 feet, the same as it is now. This is better for everybody in the picture and we need to move forward.”
Since the original draft preliminary environmental assessment was prepared, Goss said it is no longer valid because the runway will be shorter potentially altering the impact on the surroundings. The new airstrip will run parallel to the existing one.
Initially, the forest preserves commissioners approved a resolution to sell the land pending the results of the environmental assessment. Goss at the time the public land was primarily to provide a buffer at either end of the runway.
Though the forest preserves commissioners passed a resolution agreeing in principle to sell the land, it was contingent on the environmental assessment and impact. It was not an unanimous decision.
Board President Jennifer Vealitzek, D-Hawthorn Woods, said in a text the sale of ¼ of an acre is better than selling 52 acres to another public entity. The commissioners will handle the request from the port district when a final proposal is made. Entreaties like this are not unusual.
“We’re going to handle it as we do many others—through the committee process,” she said in the text. “Our board members have not yet seen the port authority’s new plans.”
Commissioner John Wasik, D-Grayslake, was an opponent of the plan when it was first posed to the board. He remains skeptical despite significantly less property is needed for the runway and its shorter distance. He is dubious. He was concerned with things he read in the original draft preliminary environmental assessment. He worries they may remain.
“I want to see what the full environmental assessment shows,” Wasik said. “What will it include about nitrous oxides and CO2. What impact will the potential emissions be on the surrounding area? Will they have to cut down trees?”
Though Goss does not have answers until the new draft preliminary environmental assessment is complete, he said he does not anticipate an increase in air traffic at the airport.
Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham said he is glad to see the runway project getting closer to reality. Though it will be done by the port district, it another piece of the city’s infrastructure in need of attention.
“Getting the project moving forward is exciting news for all of us,” Cunningham said. “It reduces the (proposed) footprint of the airport. The improved runway at Waukegan National Airport is part of what will lead to the rebuilding of Waukegan.”
Celeste Flores, the co-chair of Clean Power Lake County, said in a text the reduction of forest preserve land remaining in the public domain is a “notable improvement,” a comprehensive environmental review is required for “full transparency.”
“Our communities have long borne the burdens of environmental injustice—this cannot be another case of development without accountability,” Flores said in the text. “ We will continue advocating for a process that centers residents, not just regulators.”
Goss said the $186 million project will be paid from airport user fees. There is no cost to the taxpayers.
The FAA did not respond to a request for comments by the deadline for this story.