We learned last week that a new “impediment” is pausing Southwest LRT construction and leading to another lengthy and costly delay.
As KSTP-TV reports, the planned extension of the Green Line is already years behind schedule, and its price tag has grown to nearly $3 billion.
Freedom Foundation Founder and CEO, Annette Meeks, is a former Metropolitan Council member. She can attest that there were serious questions about the feasibility of the Southwest Light Rail project 12 years ago, and this impediment is just the latest setback.
“This impediment … this will not be the end of it,” Meeks told KSTP. “This will be just one more stumbling block to increase the cost. It’s already the largest public project in the State of Minnesota, and there is no plan. That’s the bigger problem, how to pay for this and how to fix it.”
Minnesotans are wondering “who to blame” on the $3 billion debacle called Southwest Light Rail?
Here’s a good starting point: on Nov. 30, 2018, SWLRT groundbreaking event occurred.
From the Met Council News Advisory:
“The groundbreaking was held in Hopkins, at the site of a future rail support facility. More than a hundred people joined in the celebration, which included remarks by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator Tina Smith, U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison, Minnesota House Speaker-elect Melissa Hortman, Hennepin County Board Chair Jan Callison, Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, Hopkins Mayor Molly Cummings, Metropolitan Council Member Gail Dorfman, Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Jonathan Weinhagen, and Met Council Chair Alene Tchourumoff” (appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton who offered his congrats on the project).
Looks like the first place to start asking questions about the SWLRT $3 billion debacle is at a DFL convention, since they were the advocates for this boondoggle.
