Bill seeks to halt Blue Line LRT extension until troubled Southwest light-rail line opens

A bill supported by Republican lawmakers at the State Capitol would temporarily stop spending on the $3.2 billion Blue Line light-rail extension until the controversial Southwest light-rail line begins service in 2027.

Once Southwest is operating between Minneapolis and Eden Prairie, then a determination can be made whether the Blue Line extension still “makes sense,” said Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, one of the bill’s chief sponsors, during a House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee meeting Wednesday.

The Blue Line extension is slated to connect Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park, with stops in north Minneapolis, Robbinsdale and Crystal. Still in the planning stages, it is expected to begin service in 2030, and will usurp Southwest as the costliest public works project in state history.

The nearly $3 billion Southwest project, which is more than 80% built, has been fraught with cost overruns and delays, prompting Robbins and others to favor a less-expensive bus-rapid transit line along the Blue Line route instead of light rail.

But a two-year delay in work on the Blue Line extension would add an additional $200 million to its $3.2 billion budget, said Judd Schetnan, government affairs director at the Metropolitan Council, the regional planning body that will build and operate Southwest and the Blue Line extension.

Schetnan and others testified Wednesday that the Blue Line extension is an important cog in the build-out of the metro area’s transit system. He pointed out that state funding plays a relatively minor role in building the Blue Line extension — the primary funders are the federal government and Hennepin County.

Robbins said her constituents in Maple Grove are “incredibly frustrated that the county would take this project on.” The Blue Line extension would not serve Maple Grove.

Others noted the cities along the Blue Line extension have granted consent to build it, that it serves one of the most transit-dependent areas of the state, encourages real estate investment and is a more environmentally friendly mode of transportation than buses.

“We are witnessing a pattern of attacks against public transportation, it’s not new,” said Nas Nourkadi, Policy and Community Specialist for Move MN, a transit advocacy organization. “I have to ask who are these proposals for, it is not for everyday Minnesotans trying to make ends meet.”

Rep. Katie Jones, DFL-Minneapolis, said the two projects aren’t comparable. The major cost driver for Southwest has been a tunnel in the narrow and watery Kenilworth corridor of Minneapolis, while the Blue Line project does not have any tunnels planned, she said.

But Rep. Bjorn Olson, R-Fairmont, said given declining ridership on public transit, it would take 300 years to recoup the Blue Line extension’s cost. “It’s a very poor investment,” he said.