Freshly minted Governor Charlie Baker made good on a campaign promise just hours after being sworn into office. On Thursday, Jan. 8, Governor Baker released $100 million in MassDOT Chapter 90 funds to support local infrastructure improvements.

It was almost an entire year ago that Baker made his promise just as the race to succeed Deval Patrick on Beacon Hill began taking shape. By releasing the funds, the state reimburses communities for qualifying projects including, but not limited to, highway construction, bikeways and bus and rail service.

“I am pleased that one of the first acts of this administration is to fulfill our commitment to ensure local governments have access to the infrastructure funds they have been promised for transportation upgrades,” said Baker in a statement. “The release of these funds represents a step toward creating better jobs and building stronger communities in Massachusetts.”

According to the governor’s office, the release of this $100 million constitutes the remaining one-third of additional Chapter 90 funding authorized in 2014.

News of the freed up funding comes hot on the heels of the City of Boston getting the nod by the United States Olympic Committee to potentially play host for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Opponents of the idea of Boston as a host city cite the Hub’s lack of viable infrastructure as one major reason it should retract its bid. The organization No Boston Olympics published a report saying that the money needed to address this concern would balloon the proposed $4.5 billion budget to somewhere between $10 billion and $20 billion.

“I look forward to working with Mayor Walsh and the Boston 2024 organization to address the multitude of issues that need to be discussed, including keeping costs down and continuing to press forward on pledges of a privately funded Olympics as the process moves forward before the IOC,” said Baker.

An Olympics feasibility study conducted in early 2014 cited MassDOT’s long-term financing plan, containing $5.2 billion in improvements over the next decade, as evidence that Boston could eventually handle a spectacle of the size and scope of the Olympics.

Of the $100 million in reimbursement funding, Boston is allotted a total of $21,658,604. The cash could be used for bike safety improvements such as cycle tracks as well as repaved sidewalks, which would lend credence to the notion of Boston’s bid as a “walkable Games” concept.