(The Center Square) – A multi-billion dollar, taxpayer-funded project will extend the Red Line from 95th Street to the Dan Ryan.

The 5.6-mile extension of commuter rail will include four new stations near 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue and 130th Street and is a part of the city’s “Red Ahead” restoration project.

“As it has been already articulated, 50% of the funding needed to build this extension has been committed today, making it the largest transit infrastructure funding commitment in [Chicago Transit Authority’s] history,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said Friday.

The extension will connect residents to every part of the city, he said.

“We are now significantly closer to being able to provide a point of connection that has been missing on the southside for half a century,” Johnson said. “The CTA is a pathway to opportunity and enrichment. Every resident deserves convenient access to buses and trains taking them to all 77 neighborhoods of our great city and well beyond.”

Part of the funding will come from federal tax funds. Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, was in attendance at the Friday announcment and said this project had been a goal for some time.

“The folks, the 100,000 residents of Chicago who were looking to access quality modern transportation said ‘enough of your speeches, where’s the money,'” Durbin said. “Well, today we bring the money.”

A timeline for the project’s completion was not discussed.