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The Green line extension project is under new management, signaling good news for a $2.3 billion project that has been stalled for almost a year.

Former Chicago Transit Authority official John Dalton has been hired to oversee the project, which will extend the trolley line 4.7 miles into Somerville and Medford.

Dalton will be paid $280,000 a year and be eligible for thousands more in benefits and bonuses, according to a Boston Globe report. The position is required by the Federal Transit Administration to open the project up to $1 billion in federal funding.

“John’s experience with large and complex public transit projects is exactly what is needed to drive the Green line Extension forward,” Brian Shortsleeve, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority general manager, said in a news release. “He brings a wealth of technical knowledge as well as familiarity with federal funding processes and stakeholder engagement.”

Dalton, who has overseen major transportation projects from Chicago to Dubai, will report directly to Shortsleeve.

The long-awaited extension, which was first agreed to by the state in 1990, will service an estimated 45,000 riders a day at seven new stations, but funding has been a longtime issue for the project.

The MBTA introduced a scaled-down version after realizing they had $1 billion in cost overruns.

In addition to the yet-to-be-secured federal grant, the cities of Somerville and Cambridge are contributing $75 million to help move the project forward and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council is investing over $150 million.