Audit — but don't halt — Southwest light rail

Gov. Tim Walz has joined the growing list of those calling for an independent audit of the Southwest light rail project, which is projecting further delays amid mounting costs. The Star Tribune Editorial Board also supports a deep dive into why this project has been beset by difficulties.

Ground was first broken on SWLRT in 2018, with service projected to start in 2023. But the planning started long before that, with feasibility studies beginning in 2002. Despite the many years of planning, the completion date has now been pushed out a full four years, to 2027, and costs have soared from $2 billion to $2.7 billion — if nothing else goes awry.

This is the most expensive public works project in state history, and while the Editorial Board still believes it is an integral part of mass transit for the region, it is essential that we learn, through independent means and in detail, how and why this project went, in a sense, off the rails.

Republicans also want an audit, but they are seeking a halt to all work on the project until such a report is completed. The urge to pause the project is understandable but ultimately not feasible and in the long run makes little sense. Republican House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, at a legislative forum earlier this week, went further and said bluntly that "we need a pause on this permanently. This project should have never happened."

But it did happen, and we now are more than 60% of the way toward completion. Communities have planned around this line. Developers have projects that hinge on proximity to light rail. Pausing the project would only push costs even higher and threaten existing contracts and funding.

A pause also would most likely add court costs to the mix from developers and contractors seeking legal remedies. If the pause is actually a means to halt it permanently, that would mean pulling out on a critical piece of what will be an integrated Twin Cities mass transit system of rail and bus rapid transit more than 20 years in the making.

As a reminder, Southwest light rail will operate between downtown Minneapolis and Eden Prairie, passing through St. Louis Park, Hopkins and Minnetonka, with 16 stations along the way. It is designed to become part of an integrated system that connects with the Blue Line, Northstar Commuter Rail, bus routes and future transitways. Following this, a planned extension of the Blue Line would run through north Minneapolis and Robbinsdale on out to Brooklyn Park, further connecting the region.

Metropolitan Council Chair Charles Zelle, a former commissioner of the state Department of Transportation, told an editorial writer last week that he too is frustrated and disappointed at the delays and additional cost, but would welcome an audit.

"We have nothing to hide," he said.

Zelle identifies three primary causes for the delays and overruns: a decision driven by nearby neighborhoods to run the line below grade near the Kenilworth Trail, which necessitated a costly tunnel; the protective wall required by BNSF Railway, which uses nearby heavy rail to transport flammables, and the late reinstatement of an Eden Prairie station previously cut from the project.

The resulting project had changed enough that the contract essentially had to be renegotiated, Zelle said. At one point, before Zelle's time, an alternate route had been explored that would have run along Nicollet Avenue, but that also proved problematic, with the cost of stations along Nicollet prohibitively expensive.

Zelle said he is satisfied that the council now has a negotiated contract with a realistic timetable that takes in the complicating factors — including rising inflation — and both incentives for early completion and penalties for missed dates.

State Senate President David Osmek, R-Mound, who sits on the Transportation Committee, said he is particularly troubled by the Kenilworth Tunnel and the decision to push ahead despite obvious and serious problems.

"I have been very supportive of bus rapid transit," Osmek said. "I just don't believe Southwest light rail is a good use. We need to make sure we know what we're doing here. It just seems like the Met Council is trying to jam a square peg into a round hole." Osmek wants to explore whether the line, despite being more than halfway done, could be converted to a dedicated bus line. "It's got to be less expensive and maybe we can avoid the stupid tunnel," he said.

That would be a giant curveball, requiring new plans, new contracts and with all the attendant problems listed earlier regarding a pause or halt.

But Osmek is right when he says we need to know what we're doing. To be of any use, any audit must delve into both anticipated and unanticipated problems that arose on Southwest, how they were handled and what can be done better going forward. Already yet another issue has emerged: Cracks that run several floors up have been found in two condominium towers adjacent to the tunnel, Twin Cities Business has reported. All tunnel work has been halted until the cracks can be studied.

Zelle pointed out that Southwest remains below the national average for costs — an audit should bear that out — and that earlier rail projects came in on time and on budget. That is commendable. And we are not the only region that has experienced problems in retrofitting an urban area for modern mass transit.

But a detailed audit could serve as a template for minimizing future issues as well as ensure transparency, safety and careful stewardship of public money. The state should waste no time in ordering one.