ST. PAUL, Minn. — With one senator calling the project “a boondoggle of historic proportions,” a bipartisan group of Minnesota state legislators is calling for an audit of a light rail project that has soared in cost and is now projected to open four years late.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports the legislators are calling for the review of the Southwest light rail project, a 14.5-mile extension of the Metro Green Line to St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie. Their request came a day after an announcement that extension — the largest public infrastructure project in state history — is now expected to cost $2.65 billion to $2.75 billion and is not likely to begin operation before 2027. Just a year ago, the price was estimated at $2 billion, with completion in 2023.
State Sen. Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson, Minn.), along with calling the project a “boondoggle,” said in a statement, “Words barely capture what a monumental disaster it has been.” The chair of the Senate Transportation Finance and Policy Committee, Newman said a bill calling for an audit will receive an early hearing. The ranking minority member of the committee, Sen. Scott Dibble (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party-Minneapolis), said he will introduce legislation calling for an inquiry. He called the latest estimates for the project “jaw dropping and appalling.”
The Metropolitan Council, the regional governmental body that oversees the Metro Transit system, revealed the new cost and timeline for the project on Wednesday, with Chairman Charlie Zelle saying finding money to pay for the increasing cost “is a puzzle to be solved.”
The Star-Tribune reports officials say three factors account for most of the increase: construction of a tunnel in Minneapolis Kenilworth Corridor, which poses significant challenges because of limited clearances and soil issues; the addition of a station at Eden Prairie Town Center; and construction of a mile-long, $93 million crash protection wall separating the light-rail line from BNSF tracks [see “Digest: New MBTA subway cars have derailed …,” Trains News Wire, March 24, 2021].
Share this article
