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By Jeff McMurray

The Associated Press

CHICAGO 鈥� Adella Bass dropped her in-person college classes because it was just too hard to travel to the campus from Chicago鈥檚 South Side, where the city鈥檚 famous elevated train doesn鈥檛 run. She already needs nearly two hours to reach the hospital where she receives treatment for a heart condition.

But things are looking up, with bright red signs across the area boldly proclaiming, 鈥淩eady, Set, Soon!鈥� This year, the city is poised to start making good on a decades-old promise to connect some of its most isolated, poor and polluted neighborhoods to the rest of the city via mass transit.

The Biden administration notified Congress last month that it would commit $1.9 billion toward a nearly $5.7 billion project to add four new L stations on the South Side. It鈥檚 poised to be the Chicago system鈥檚 largest expansion project ever. Last week, Federal Transit Deputy Administrator Veronica Vanterpool inked a Full Funding Grant Agreement with the Chicago Transit Authority to support the project.

Bass nevertheless fears聽President-elect Donald Trump鈥檚 administration聽might try to scuttle it.

Signals abound to assure residents that the project is 鈥渁 go,鈥� said Bass, who is raising three young children and works on health equity issues that affect residents of a massive public housing development near her South Side home. 鈥淏ut you just never know with Trump.鈥�

Could transit funding be slashed?

The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that聽Biden signed into law聽in 2021 focused far more heavily on transit than anything advocated by his predecessor. That is why there was a scramble to finalize some transit grants before Biden鈥檚 term ends, including commitments last month for rapid transit upgrades in San Antonio and Salt Lake City.

Yonah Freemark, a researcher at the Urban Institute, said Trump in his first term unsuccessfully encouraged Congress to pass budgets eliminating funding for some new transit projects that hadn鈥檛 secured their grant agreements. But it has been practically unheard of for administrations to claw back projects after they won final approval.

Steve Davis, who handles transportation strategy for Smart Growth America, said Trump could try to redirect future competitive grants to聽prioritize highway construction聽over alternative transportation methods such as transit. Trump鈥檚 Transportation Department could potentially slow some allocations already approved for infrastructure projects, he said, but would have trouble halting them entirely.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e building an enormous $2 billion road widening, you need to know you鈥檙e going to have money in year four or five and there鈥檚 nothing a hostile administration could do to stop it,鈥� Davis said.

Bringing back jobs through access

One of the communities that would be served by a new Chicago L station is Roseland, a once-thriving, predominantly Black business district that has suffered the loss of manufacturing and a spike in crime.

Jervon Hicks, who spent many years in and out of jail on gun charges, turned his life around and ended up becoming a mentor for at-risk youth. The new station could help quicken the same transition for others, he said.

鈥淩oseland needs a makeover,鈥� Hicks said. 鈥淲e lack a pet store. We used to have a theater. Take some of these abandoned buildings and turn them into job opportunities.鈥�

Unlike the busy 鈥淢agnificent Mile鈥� shopping district on Michigan Avenue in the downtown Chicago Loop, the business district on South Michigan Avenue in Roseland has fallen from more than 90 percent occupancy decades ago to around 10 percent now.

Among the surviving businesses is Edwards Fashions. Owner Ledall Edwards hopes transportation will spur more to return.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檒l get to the level it was back in the 1970s, but I think the environment is going to improve because of the accessibility,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to be able to get people here in this area much faster.鈥�

Rogers Jones, who for 30 years has run the Youth Peace Center next to the future train station, said he can hardly wait for the transformation.

鈥淭he community is going to change,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a vibrant community, and people are excited. I know I鈥檓 excited.鈥�

A 55-year-old promise

Former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley told residents of Roseland and surrounding areas in 1969 that the L would eventually expand there.

Tammy Chase, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Transit Authority, said the cost then would have been $114 million. Now it鈥檚 around $5.7 billion, and that figure will keep rising the longer construction is delayed.

The agency has hired a construction firm, opened a Roseland office in a former paint store and begun boarding up homes that will be demolished to accommodate new tracks. Ground is expected to be broken late this year, Chase said.

U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees transportation spending, pointed out Chicago鈥檚 transit system survived wars and depression. It surely also can withstand a pandemic and the transition to a presidential administration with different priorities, he said.

鈥淭he big infrastructure projects stand the test of time,鈥� Quigley said. 鈥淭hese ups and downs, you have to adjust to them, but you recognize transit always comes back. If transit doesn鈥檛 come back, it stymies opportunities going forward.鈥�