Latest news with #SouthwestLightRailTransit
CBS News
07-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
SWLRT audit prompts more Met Council criticism from Minnesota lawmakers
Minnesota state auditors on Monday released the results of their investigation into construction of the Metropoilitan Council's oft-delayed and over budget Southwest Light Rail Transit project. The Office of the Legislative Auditor's report found "instances of noncompliance and weaknesses in internal controls" in cost discrepancies, work with certain subcontractors, contaminated soils and security. The audit focused on "construction activities and the work performed by the civil construction contractor, Lunda/C.S. McCrossan Joint Venture," the OLA said. The 14.5-mile extension of the Metro Green Line from downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie is the most expensive public works project in state history at $2.8 billion. Construction began in 2018 and has been delayed numerous times. The Metropolitan Council expects it to be up and running sometime in 2027. At a hearing Monday morning with the Legislative Audit Commission, the Metropolitan Council responded to the findings. "Most importantly, as I mentioned before, there were no overpayments and we have protected, we believe, taxpayers' interests in delivering this project," Met Council Chair Charlie Zelle said. "Southwest Light Rail, or we refer to as the Green Line Extension, is a generational investment in a transformative network of transit throughout this metro area." Lawmakers on both sides excoriated the Met Council during the hearing. "There is a big problem in the Met Council, the way they conduct business, spending other people's money," Republican state Sen. Calvin Bahr said. "People work hard for their money, and all three of your problems go so over budget, it's like you don't care." "We will continue to get these results because that's the way the system is designed. It's up to the public to rise up if they want better outcomes from this regional body," DFL state Sen. Scott Dibble said. The auditors' full findings and recommendations can be found on the OLA website . Two years ago, an OLA report found the Met Council wasn't fully transparent about the project's cost overruns and delays and began construction without securing the necessary funds for completion. The council's alleged mismanagement of the SWLRT project has led to calls to reform the unelected body.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Legislature Q&A: Tony Albright
The 2016 Legislature adjourned without addressing key items – taxes, transportation and bonding bills. Partisan gridlock is a recurring theme. What specific measures do you support to increase the transparency and reduce the gridlock of the lawmaking process? The House and Senate did address these items. A strongly bipartisan tax bill passed in both chambers. Unfortunately, the governor decided to forego a decision and left it to a pocket veto. The House passed a strongly bipartisan bonding bill that addressed infrastructure, local road and bridge needs. The bonding bill was not forwarded to the governor because metro DFL senators squandered our bipartisan efforts with their insistence on inserting Southwest Light Rail Transit funding. What will it take to pass comprehensive funding for roads, bridges and transit? What sources of revenue should be raised for what specific programs? Or is current funding sufficient? Over the course of the last biennium, the Legislature identified several existing revenue sources that could be used to provide the necessary funding to rebuild and improve our roads, bridges and expand transit in common sense ways without raising taxes. The 2015 House Transportation Bill, as passed off the house floor, was a comprehensive plan that provided $6 billion over the next 10 years, and widely confirmed as effective in moving our transportation infrastructure forward. How would you propose to improve traffic flow at Highway 13/County Road 21 and 21/Main Avenue through Prior Lake, and how and when should the project be funded? The last several years have seen comprehensive study and design analysis by respected transportation experts. Much debate by stakeholders has provided feedback to each one completed. If the city and its citizens do not come to agreement on a plan and schedule for improvements in the next three to five years, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and Scott County will likely move to address their own safety and traffic flow issues at this intersection and obligate the city to a response (on a timeline not of their own choosing).
