Although the North Shore Connector project had been moving steadily forward for months, it can now be called official: the Federal Transit Administration has pledged to fund 80 percent of the Port Authority project. Pittsburghers should rejoice at this news, although in truth inconvenience will precede convenience for them.

Pittsburgh's own "big dig" will involve drilling two tunnels under the Allegheny River to extend the light-rail system by 1.2 miles. As early as next month, those infuriating cones, barrels and concrete barricades will be going up in a limited number of locations.

On the bright side, the Port Authority's assistant general manager, Henry Nutbrown, told the Post-Gazette that the agency will be sensitive to motorists' needs, and street traffic won't be badly disrupted for the 4¹/₂ years it should take to complete the project.

The cost is now up to $435 million -- an increase of $42 million in a little over a year. Critics have lately seized upon this to bolster their claim that the money would be better spent elsewhere, that patrons of the ballparks and science center, students at community college and workers at the new developments on the North Shore don't need an expensive way to get there when they can walk over the bridges. But that sort of critique fails to see the bigger picture.

The North Shore Connector will make good assets much better -- after all, not everyone can walk to the stadiums and extending the line will improve the T's usefulness and capacity as well as serve to reduce traffic congestion. Moreover, extending the line to the North Shore establishes a beachhead that one day may extend light-rail service to points north or west.

Pittsburghers make a habit of not seeing their best interests, but this should tell them something: The federal government has approved this project in a fiscally challenged era, against other competitive proposals -- and it considers this one of the top transit projects in the nation. Besides, all the criticism is years too late to the point of being moot. The time to have opposed this project was back in 1999 when the planning started.

Sure, the Port Authority has funding problems -- it may have to raise fares and cut service if it can't secure a steady source of state funding. But the operating budget is a different pot of money from the capital budget. If the agency had turned down the federal construction money now, it would have looked a gift horse in the mouth.

The building of the stadiums was itself almost killed by local resentments, and now they confound that lack of vision by standing as the city's crown jewels during nationally televised sports events and by generating new development nearby. The extension of light rail beyond the Allegheny River will only enhance the neighborhood.

The critics can call this what they want, but it's still progress.