Boston - Silver Line gets boost toward US funding

Senators John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy, along with Representatives Michael E. Capuano and Stephen F. Lynch, announced Monday that the Federal Transit Administration has notified Congress that within days it will approve the entry of Phase III of the Silver Line project in Boston into preliminary engineering, a milestone in the federal review of the project that is required to make the project eligible for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal support.

The project consists of a 1.1-mile tunnel under downtown Boston, connecting Roxbury to Logan International Airport. It also allows for the building of new platforms at two subway stations and surface-bus lanes between Charles and Washington streets. The Silver Line Phase III project is expected to cost $1.2 billion. If the Federal Transit Administration gives the project final approval, the federal government may provide about $700 million in funding.

Boston Globe