The 4.7-mile extension of the Green Line through Somerville into Medford is an infrastructure priority for the Trump administration. That is at least according to a list of the 50 projects the new administration wants to see get done nationally.
It’s not clear if the list, which McClatchy’s D.C. bureau obtained, is an actual blueprint for these projects or just a kind of wishlist. But it is the most concrete sign yet that the bright blue Boston region’s biggest infrastructure project is probably not doomed under the new GOP sheriff in Washington.
To be clear, the extension faces other challenges, with or without the $996 million in federal funds (which represents about 43 percent of the project’s currently anticipated cost). These challenges include budget overruns and a dearth of contractors in place.
Such hurdles caused state officials in late 2016 to push back the opening dates of the new stations along the extension to 2021. They were supposed to start opening this year and finish opening in 2020.
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One final note re: the Trump administration list: It lists the cost of the Green Line extension at $3 billion. Previous estimates as recent as December pegged it at $2.3 billion.