It seems as though many of us don’t know whether to toss our hats in the air and shout for joy or quietly drown our sorrows at the local tavern. Indeed, though, it’s been reported that many in attendance at the last Board of Aldermen meeting broke into applause after the city’s $50 million contribution to the GLX’s funding was unanimously approved. Cold comfort to others, though.

The news that the Green Line Extension project is not yet dead is actually comforting to many. After all the years of promises and compromises, most of us feel we have it coming.

But there is a price to pay for this tenuous victory. To the tune of $50 million, no less.

There’s little question, really, about the value of the GLX and how it will enhance the transportation infrastructure in the region, but we should imagine that there would be a limit to how much will be asked of us financially.

The state and federal governments have led the way and pledged to fund the lion’s share of the project. Some say it was pure mismanagement right from the start that led to the disastrous shortfall in the project’s budget, leading us to where we are today. In that case, is it fair to ask the affected municipalities to shoulder this much of the financial burden.

It leaves us wishing for a way to penalize the mismanagers instead of ourselves. Dreamers, though we be.