Metro Transit Blue Line extension could be in jeopardy after revision adds $336M to budget
Minnesota lawmakers are now calling for Metro Transit to scrap its plans to expand the light rail, more than half a decade into the project.
Right now, the Blue Line runs between Mall of America and Target Field. The proposed extension would continue that light rail line north to Brooklyn Park.
In a new report requested by state lawmakers, Metro Transit said it underbudgeted by about $336 million for the project, which already carried a $3.2 billion price tag. The project is already years in and slated to enter its construction phase next year.
House Transportation Chair Jon Koznick, a Republican from Lakeville, now says he wants to scrap the plan entirely in favor of expanding bus routes.
Bus transit would, in theory, save a lot of money — it's about a quarter of the annual cost and significantly less in yearly maintenance costs.
Metro Transit said it's not that simple and would take essentially starting from scratch, wasting the hundreds of millions they've already spent developing the light rail plan. It would also put already secured federal funding in jeopardy.
Koznick said he's confident buses would not only serve the same job, but cost less in the process.
"We weren't surprised, but we were — it is shocking to outsiders, and it should be shocking to Hennepin County commissioners, that there's one option of $3.6 billion, compare that to $120 million for an arterial busline that basically serves the same corridor, it's a different mode," Koznick said.
The report said switching from the light rail project to expanded bus routes would delay construction until 2030 at the earliest. Koznick said he's not certain the light rail project couldn't be delayed that long, too.
In a statement to WCCO, Hennepin County officials said in part the extension "will connect tens of thousands of residents who rely on transit to get to work, go to school and access healthcare. It will drive economic investment and new housing construction that will decrease property taxes for residents. It will create thousands of good paying jobs for Minnesotans."
Terri Dresen, communications director for the Metropolitan Council, told WCCO Wednesday the budget increase is due in part to "improvements requested through our community engagement and municipal consent process where cities and counties can request changes as part of the approval process." Those approved requests include additional stations at Washington Avenue and West Broadway in Minneapolis, a significant redesign of the Lowry Avenue Station and improving North Loop road connectivity.
Dresen says the budget "also includes a 32% contingency fund to account for ongoing economic volatility and uncertainty, including an increase required by the Federal Transit Administration following its risk assessment of project risks."
She says between August 2014 and this April, $292 million has been spent on the project, and about $752 million is "expected to come from federal funding." Dresen says that amount "is eligible for reimbursement as project costs incurred."
