construction in the late 1950s and early 1960s, however, prompted a comprehensive re-evaluation of the Crosstown route. Cancellation On February 25, 1967, the federal government proposed the Crosstown Expressway be redesigned as a "total development concept" that would integrate mass transit, high-rise apartment buildings, commercial and industrial zones, and green space. Mayor Richard J. Daley stated the road would be "the most modern and beautiful expressway in the nation". By 1972, the Crosstown Expressway had emerged as the national testing ground for a new kind of urban expressway centered upon neighborhood integration rather than regional development. Some community groups strongly opposed these plans; notably the Citizens Action Program (CAP) and the Anti-Crosstown Action Committee, who turned the proposed expressway into a pivotal issue in the 1972 local, state, and federal elections. Dan Walker, an independent Democrat defeated incumbent Governor Richard Ogilvie 51% to 49% on a strong anti-Crosstown platform. Walker appeared at the 1973 CAP annual convention to declare the Crosstown Expressway will not be built. Political wrangling, however, over the Crosstown Expressway continued between Walker and Daley until the latter's death in December 1976. Changing public opinion across the country on urban highway construction, the mid-1970s energy crisis, and rapidly escalating costs (from the total development concept additions and runaway inflation rates) ultimately undermined the expressway. Restructured proposals for the southern leg of the Crosstown route were agreed by Mayor Michael Bilandic and Governor James R. Thompson in March 1977. However, in January 1979, the Crosstown Expressway project was finally cancelled by Mayor Jane M. Byrne and Governor Thompson. In the $1.916 billion in federal funds earmarked for the Crosstown Expressway and (never-built) Franklin Line Subway were then reallocated to Chicago's regional transit agencies, and to other road improvements across northeastern Illinois. These funds would also support the extension of the Blue Line L train to O'Hare International Airport and the construction of the Orange Line L train to Midway Airport. Revival attempts In 2001, Mayor Richard M. Daley announced plans for a Mid-City Transitway, using the alignment of the Chicago Belt Line Railway that the Crosstown Expressway route was to have followed. The Mid-City project was placed in the Chicago Area Transportation Study's Destination 2020: Regional Transportation Plan and still awaits study and approval. Proposals for a Circle Line providing circumferential transit options closer to the Loop have been prioritized over investment in the Transitway project by city