Southwest Light Rail Transit line opening delayed until at least 2023

The announcement comes within months of a Met Council statement that the line would be delayed until 2022 instead of opening in 2021, as had been projected earlier this year.

The council attributed the latest delay on several developments, including requirements from the Federal Transit Administration. The federal agency would pay for half of the $1.9 billion project, according to Met Council officials. However, the federal government has not agreed to a full funding grant agreement yet.

The Federal Transit Administration determined that a wall along a segment of the proposed light rail line in Minneapolis would adversely affect a historic railroad district. The Met Council had agreed with a BNSF Railway condition that a crash wall of up to 10 feet in height separate the light rail trains from freight trains in the corridor BNSF controls. The section, between Cedar Lake and downtown Minneapolis, is known for the North Cedar Lake Regional Trail. The inclusion of the wall in Met Council plans prompted controversy in Minneapolis.

The Federal Transit Administration decided that a supplemental environmental assessment would be necessary, according to the Met Council. The document would further assess potential environmental impact and allow public review and comment.

The Met Council announced it would also complete an environmental assessment worksheet. The document would be completed using state law and would parallel the work on the federal supplemental environmental assessment.

In a move designed to address concerns from contracting and engineering professionals, the Met Council said it would seek proposals for a contractor to take over quality management responsibilities. The contractor would undertake much of the testing and inspections relating to the line.

The plan would allow more subcontractors to work on the line, the Met Council indicated.

“We’re pleased we were able to find a way to uphold the Council’s competitive and fair contract process, while also maintaining Quality Management Services and addressing concerns raised by the contracting community,” the agency said in a Dec. 19 statement attributed to Laura Baenen, communications manager for the Southwest Light Rail Transit project as well as the proposed Blue Line Extension in Minneapolis, Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, Crystal and Brooklyn Park.

The earlier delay announced this past fall related in part to an issue involving subcontractors.

When the Met Council announced it would seek new bids, the bid advertisement listed 36 firms that could not work as subcontractors for the winning construction bidder because they had worked on contracts for other aspects of the project.

“If a Bidder includes a subcontractor from this list in its Bid, the Bidder will be found to be nonresponsive, will be rejected from the bidding process, and will be given no further consideration,” the advertisement stated.

Four companies made bids for the civil construction contract earlier this year. The bids ranged from about $797 million to nearly $1.1 billion.

The council rejected all civil construction bids in September after Chair Alene Tchourumoff recommended the move “due to responsiveness and price,” according to a statement from the regional planning agency.

The September statement reads, “The determination that the bids were too high was made in close consultation with Hennepin County as the primary local funder of the project. There were also responsiveness issues, which means a bid did not meet all the requirements of the bid documents.”

When the Met Council sought new bids, the regional agency provided a bid opening date of Tuesday, Jan. 9. However, in its Dec. 19 statement, the Met Council moved the bid opening date to Thursday, May 3.

The later date allows the Federal Transit Administration and Met Council to complete environmental reviews, which the federal government is requiring before a construction contract can be awarded, the Met Council’s latest statement says.

The public will be able to review and comment during a 45-day period. A town hall meeting will be set to provide an opportunity for input.

The Met Council will allow companies bidding on the project to revise their bids and schedules after the council makes adjustments, including changes to the testing and inspection responsibilities.

While the Met Council said it would work with the Federal Transit Administration to expedite a review process, the council’s statement acknowledged that the line could not open to the public before 2023.

The statement concludes, “Once the environmental process is complete, we’ll have a more fully informed picture of the overall impact to the project’s schedule and its milestones.”

The line still faces a court ruling.

A lawsuit from a group of residents called the Lakes and Parks Alliance has sought to block the line’s selected route through Minneapolis. The group alleges that the Met Council violated federal law when selecting the route. U.S. District Judge John Tunheim heard arguments about the case in October but has yet to issue a ruling.

The project would extend the Green Line from downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie, passing through St. Louis Park, Hopkins and Minnetonka.