As Green Line extension languishes, some lawmakers want future light rail in state hands
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There’s a bill moving through the Minnesota Legislature that, if approved, would take authority over future light rail construction away from the Metropolitan Council and give that responsibility to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
It’s prompted, in part, by the Met Council’s handling of the controversial Southwest light rail project, which is years behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget.
“We have an agency that has no real meaningful measure of accountability for how it performs its duties on behalf of the public,” Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL - Minneapolis, told MPR News.
Dibble co-authored the bill and chairs the Senate Transportation Committee. He said he believes MnDOT would be better equipped to oversee such projects.
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“On the one hand, we have an agency that really isn’t in the business of building things. You know, they operate the transit system but they don’t really build big things,” he said. “On the other hand, we have another agency whose only real job is to build big things, and they are really good at it.”
The Met Council is a policy-making body and planning agency for the seven-county Twin Cities metro. It also manages Metro Transit buses and light rail trains, as well as services like wastewater treatment.
In a statement to MPR News, a spokesperson for the Met Council said it “doesn’t take positions on legislation impacting the duties assigned to it by law” and that the conversation at this week’s transportation committee hearing “speaks for itself.”
At that hearing, MnDOT staff testified that it would be difficult for the department to hire additional employees for such projects.
“I'm asking the governor to step in and help the Department of Transportation to think more creatively about how this could be done,” Dibble said.
As it stands now, construction of the 14.5-mile Green Line extension is nine years behind schedule, at least $1.5 billion over budget and mired with setbacks, including concerns about poor contractor oversight, transparency, incorrect track placement and damage to nearby housing.