Escalating price may halt Minn. light rail line extension

MINNEAPOLIS — Metro Transit’s Southwest light-rail line, already the state’s largest transportation project, may be in peril now that its price tag has ballooned to close to $2 billion, reported the StarTribune.

The escalating costs for the 16-mile line from Minneapolis to Eden Prairie provoked Gov. Mark Dayton to express “serious questions about its viability and affordability,” while Metropolitan Council Chair Adam Duininck did not rule out the possibility that the project could be scuttled.

The escalating costs are driven by poor ground conditions along its pathway from downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie, as well as soil contamination in St. Louis Park and Hopkins. For the full story, click here.