The Massachusetts's Bay Transportation Authority's long-delayed Green Line Extension project finally received a big chunk of green from the federal government.
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation on Dec. 21 granted the MBTA a $100-million installment of a $1-billion grant for the 4.7-mile light-rail line, from Cambridge to Medford. The grant was first approved in 2015, when the project was predicted to cost $2 billion. But the project's federal funding fell into limbo after the budget ballooned to $3 billion. The MBTA fired its contractors, scaled down the project's design to bring the budget down to $2.3 billion and eventually got re-approval for the $1 billion in federal funding.