Courtesy of the Maryland Transit Administration.

After a touch-and-go few months, the Purple Line is getting back on track.

Saying he had “great conversations” about the delayed light rail project with U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao over the last few days, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said on Twitter yesterday that he is “looking forward to some big news later this week.”

A spokesman for Hogan confirmed to several news outlets that the Purple Line will receive a federal full funding agreement for $900 million.

Hogan, a Republican, gave it a surprise green light two years ago and construction was slated to begin in late 2016. The Purple Line would be run by the Maryland Transit Administration, not WMATA, though there are connections to the Red, Green, and Orange lines along some of the 21 stops.

It has faced fierce opposition from an organized group of neighbors, who at one point considered focusing their fight on the environmental impact to a tiny, shrimp-like creature. Instead, they’ve had successes arguing that Maryland transit officials failed to sufficiently account for the impact of Metro’s safety and ridership issues.

The Purple Line is not entirely out of the woods yet. A lawsuit that has resulted in nearly a year of delays is still working its way through the courts, but a judge ruled last month that construction can move forward.

For that, the state needed federal funds, about a third of which had already been appropriated. But there was an open question of whether or not the Trump administration would back the project, which is slated to connect 16 miles between Bethesda and New Carrollton.

While Hogan has at times avoided talking about the president—and is currently being sued for deleting critical Facebook comments related to federal immigration policy—he’s still among the most critical Republican governors in the country. Hogan wrote in his father’s name rather than voting for Donald Trump and recently said the president “made a terrible mistake” in his Charlottesville comments.

Still, the Trump administration views the project, which is already far along in the planning process, as a good example of a public-private partnership, the Washington Post reports. “The Maryland Purple Line project is an excellent example of leveraging a transit project through a public-private partnership,” a Department of Transportation spokesman told the paper. “Going forward, it demonstrates the effectiveness of P3s, and we hope it will expand to other infrastructure projects across the country.”

Previously:
The Purple Line Finally Gets Some Good News
Judge’s Ruling Is A Major Setback For The Purple Line
Judge’s Ruling Could Delay Construction Of Purple Line
The Purple Line Is Really Happening
Gov. Larry Hogan Gives The Green Light To The Purple Line
Furious Purple Line Backers Protest Gov. Hogan’s Delayed Decision