Donald Trump’s administration has signed off on the projected cost of the MBTA’s Green Line extension project, signalling that the promised nearly $1 billion in federal funds will be made available to the state.
The Federal Transportation Administration formally concurred with the $2.3 billion dollar total price tag attached to the T’s streamlined version of the project that will bring streetcars from Lechmere in Cambridge to Medford.
The FTA approval clears the way for $996 million federal dollars to be contributed to the project.
“The Administration, MassDOT and MBTA appreciate the Federal Transit Administration’s analysis and recognition of the work that was put into the GLX project’s new design, timeline, cost estimates and risk review. MassDOT and the MBTA look forward to continuing to work with our federal partners, while continuing to invest in the improvements and long-term infrastructure upgrades to the core system over one million riders depend on each day,” MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo wrote in a statement on the FTA’s decision.
After a review last year suggested that the project was one billion dollars over budget, the T made major changes to the original plans, cutting back on station designs and limiting a pedestrian path set to run alongside the route.
