Tag Archives: Southwest Light Rail Transit

Price Tag of Southwest LRT Nears $2 Billion

The following article by Eric Best was published April 27, 2015 in the Southwest Journal.

Price Tag of Southwest LRT Nears $2 Billion

Photo by Eric Best
The Metropolitan Council announced Monday that the cost of the Southwest LRT Project is now nearly $2 billion thanks to recent test results and project delays.The now $1.994 billion price tag includes a roughly 20 percent increase of $341 million due to poor ground conditions and soil contamination.  The council also pushed the project opening back one year to 2020, after engineering and environmental studies conducted between last December and this spring.
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Governor postpones vote on Southwest light rail

The following Southwest Journal article by Dylan Thomas was updated  on October 15, 2013:
Governor postpones vote on Southwest light rail
2013_10_15_SWLRT0801_5

The narrow Kenilworth Corridor is already home to a path and freight rail line.
File photo

A key vote on Southwest Light Rail Transit will be delayed, Gov. Mark Dayton announced Tuesday after a meeting with local officials.

The Metropolitan Council was scheduled to vote Wednesday on a plan that would route the train as it passes through Minneapolis’ Kenilworth Corridor through two shallow tunnels. Just what to do with the train and an existing freight line in the wooded recreation area that passes between two lakes has been a major sticking point in the LRT plan.

Delaying a vote on the $1.56-billion project will allow for more study of alternatives for rerouting freight rail and the potential impact on the Chain of Lakes if the shallow tunnels are dug. On Monday, the Met Council’s Transportation Committee advanced the plan for the 14.5-mile line to the full Met Council without a recommendation.

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