Mayor Lori Lightfoot cleared a key hurdle to two longtime goals of her first term — delivering Chicago’s first-ever casino and an extension of the CTA Red Line south to 130th Street — during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

Aldermen voted overwhelmingly — 39-5 — to approve zoning changes required for the $1.74 billion Bally’s casino complex in River West, securing the final city approval needed for the sprawling project that the mayor has billed as a windfall for shoring up pension funds and stimulating economic activity.

Council members also on Wednesday finalized a plan to partially pay for an ambitious southern extension of the Red Line by collecting revenue from a special taxing district that spans from downtown to the South Side Bronzeville neighborhood.