Chicago will break ground later this year on a new 24-gate concourse at O'Hare International Airport, extending the massive ORDNext construction program through 2034 and signaling more years of noise and traffic impacts for Park Ridge residents who live under the flight paths.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Mike McMurray announced Thursday, Aug. 20, that the first phase of the New Concourse E will add 14 gates by 2030. A second phase will deliver 10 more gates by 2034, bringing the facility to approximately 460,000 square feet west of the recently started Concourse D.

"This is welcome news, averting what would have been a very messy situation during the new global terminal's construction," said DePaul University aviation professor Joseph Schwieterman, according to the Daily Herald.

The announcement reshuffles a 2024 compromise that had prioritized the O'Hare Global Terminal and deferred Concourse E pending available funds. Under the revised timeline, Concourse D opens in late 2028 with 19 gates, Global Terminal construction begins in 2029 and wraps in 2033, and Concourse E reaches full build-out in 2034. The revised sequence was developed with United Airlines and American Airlines. The FAA has imposed flight caps at O'Hare through Oct. 30, 2027, citing congestion, gate constraints and ongoing construction.

CDA Communications Director Kevin Bargnes said the sequencing allows the tunnel connecting Concourses D and E to be built more efficiently, resulting in cost savings. The entire program stays within the approved $8.8 billion ORDNext budget, according to the city.

What it means for Park Ridge

The broader ORDNext program will increase O'Hare's gate capacity by 25% by 2034, according to state lawmakers, shifting flight patterns over neighborhoods that previously saw less air traffic. Noise complaints tracked by the O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission were already up 32% in February 2026 and 20% in March 2026 compared to the same months a year earlier. Total flight operations rose 16% and 11% in those months, respectively.

Park Ridge's O'Hare Airport Commission discussed construction updates and the noise management system at its July 16 meeting. The commission has not commented on the Concourse E announcement. Park Ridge Wire contacted the commission and had not received a response by publication.

A new state law may offer some relief. State Sen. Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) championed Senate Bill 4041, signed by Gov. JB Pritzker on July 31, which requires O'Hare and Midway to conduct sound-insulation eligibility studies every five years using modern modeling. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.

"I continually hear from residents about the need to expand the sound insulation program," Murphy said in a July 31 press release announcing the signing. "As runways have shifted many find their homes in a very different flight pattern."

More than 12,000 homes near O'Hare have already been insulated through the Residential Sound Insulation Program. The next Residential Sound Insulation Committee meeting is Sept. 17 at the CDA Administration Building, 10510 W. Zemke Rd., Chicago.