Instead of using the cell phone lot created for drivers so they can remain in their vehicles while they await incoming flights at O’Hare International Airport, some motorists are lining up in the emergency lanes alongside the highly trafficked road leading to the airport.
Traffic heading into O’Hare is often traveling in excess of 55 mph. Drivers who pull onto the shoulder, sit on the side of the road or merge back into fast moving traffic create a dangerous scenario for the motoring public. A scenario Illinois State Representative Brad Stephens is committed to preventing.
Last year, Stephens’ O'Hare Driver Safety Act was enacted and is aimed at improving safety for those driving to the airport. The new law prohibits motor vehicles from idling or stopping on the shoulder of a highway, including the highway entrance and exit ramps or on the side of a roadway, within a one-half-mile radius of the eastern entrance to O'Hare International Airport as well as the intersection of Interstate 90 and Interstate 294. It also requires the Illinois Toll Highway Authority to install and maintain cameras along those same areas to help enforce the law.
However, a jurisdictional issue has complicated the installation of the cameras and enforcement of the law, in response Stephens has introduced “a trailer bill” in the form of HB 1502 to ensure all necessary state agencies have the authority needed to implement the provisions of the O’Hare Driver Safety Act.
“I will continue to work with the Illinois State Police, Toll Highway Authority and Illinois Department of Transportation to ensure the safety of the traveling public.” said Stephens.
House Bill 1502 is scheduled to be heard in the Transportation Committee on Wednesday, February 26. Those wishing to file an electronic witness slip can do so on the ILGA website.
O'Hare has a free cellphone lot at 560 N. Bessie Coleman Drive, a free Kiss n' Fly location at the Multi-Modal Facility, pickup and drop-off at terminals and $3-an-hour parking. Visit flychicago.com/ohare/tofrom/dropoff for more information.
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