Though planning and engineering for the Red Line continue to hum along, Baltimore’s future cross-town train may be in for another delay.

The proposed east-west light rail needs certain permits — including an approved environmental impact statement, or EIS, and one demonstrating compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act — to pass federal scrutiny and receive funding.

As is typical for such projects, the Maryland Transit Administration and its private consultants prepare the technical analyses necessary to apply for such permits and then submit them to the Federal Transit Administration for review and approval.

But in June, the review process for both of those permits was paused, according to the federal permit database, as the project was approaching a target milestone date for the environmental review process.

No one announced anything then, but Red Line spokesperson Ken Milton wrote in an email Wednesday that the MTA and FTA “mutually agreed” to pause the federal review process “due to uncertainty at the federal level and the need to reassess the project timelines.”

“This pause will allow time to revise the project schedule and determine the most effective path forward, rather than continuing to extend deadlines,” Milton wrote. “This pause does not delay any ongoing technical work.”

Though work continues, the permit pause adds new uncertainty for the transit project and will likely further delay the fulfillment of one of Gov. Wes Moore’s marquee campaign promises to build it.

The roughly 14-mile proposed light rail line stretching between Woodlawn and Bayview, estimated to cost in the ballpark of $8 billion, faces a tough path forward. Not only is Maryland seeking new ways to fund transportation projects after years of tight budgets, but changes at the federal level are forcing the state to reevaluate spending in other areas, like health and education.

Many also have assumed that it’s unlikely the administration of President Donald Trump will greenlight funding for a transit project in Democrat-controlled Baltimore. Building the Red Line without federal funds could prove near impossible.

In June, a Moore spokesperson said the governor “will continue to find a path for advancing progress for east-west transit in Baltimore, even if we face headwinds in Washington.”

His office deferred a request for comment Wednesday about the permit pause to the state transportation department.

The MTA “remains committed” to working with the FTA and advancing the project, Milton said, and is “actively engaging with state and local partners" about funding and delivery strategies.

Moore officially revived the Red Line two years ago, picking up what his predecessor, former Gov. Larry Hogan, put on the shelf in 2015. Hogan balked at using $900 million in federal funding committed to the light rail; the estimated cost of the project has skyrocketed since then.

But the need for better east-west transit in Baltimore has not gone away, and the consensus of lawmakers, advocates and business leaders about the need for the project has grown since its first iteration.

Based on previous timelines, the Red Line team was supposed to announce its “preferred alternative” for which of three specific routes the train would travel between its two endpoints earlier this year. It’s unclear when that announcement will come.