Former Belmont flyover opponents try to make the best of a bad situation

With plans for the overpass full speed ahead, they plan to push for quality transit-oriented developments and new public space. The day before President Obama gave his farewell speech at McCormick Place, his administration announced a parting gift for Chicago: about $1.1 billion in grants that, along with roughly $1 billion in local money, will pay for the first phase of the CTA's Red and Purple Modernization project, a much-needed overhaul of these el lines north of Belmont.…