Citing cost concerns, House GOP bill moves to pause spending on light rail projects

Stop that train! That’s what Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) would like to do.

She sponsors HF14 to temporarily prohibit any Metropolitan Council spending on any other light rail transit projects until the Southwest LRT Green Line extension project is completed.

The primary project that would be affected by such a moratorium would be the METRO Blue Line extension, which is proposed to operate on 13.4 miles of light rail track between downtown Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park. That project is still in the design phase, with construction currently slated to begin in 2027 and the first trains scheduled to leave the station in 2030.

The House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee took the bill up on Wednesday and — during a vigorous debate and committee members’ proposals to re-refer the bill to other committees — the committee chair, Rep. Jon Koznick (R-Lakeville), called the question and the committee voted 8-7 along party lines to refer the bill to the House Floor.

“This is an attempt to help save taxpayers money by pausing the construction of the Blue Line light rail until the Southwest light rail line is complete and then we can evaluate whether the Blue Line still makes sense,” Robbins said.

After saying that the Southwest LRT Green Line extension was a project slated to cost $1.25 billion in 2018 that has grown to a projected $2.9 billion, Robbins talked about the projected costs of the Blue Line extension.

“We cannot afford to make this same mistake again with the Blue Line,” she said. “It was originally going to cost $999 million and open in 2022. … And now here we are in 2025 with a projected cost of $3.2 billion and now it’s slated to open in 2030.”

Minneapolis City Council member Jeremiah Ellison testifies before the House transportation committee Feb. 12 in opposition to HF14, sponsored by Rep. Kristin Robbins, left. (Photo by Michele Jokinen)

Robbins suggested that a bus rapid transit line could be completed for a fraction of the cost.

All 10 testifiers spoke against the bill.

“Last fall, all the cities along the Blue Line extension passed municipal consent for this project,” said Minneapolis City Council member Jeremiah Ellison. “Consent is earned through a lot of public engagement. … It’s taken many, many years to get to this point.”

“Approximately 20% of all Hennepin County households without a car live within one mile of what will be the Blue Line extension,” said Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston. “Brooklyn Park will be putting $8 million of infrastructure improvements along the line. … And numerous developers are talking to us about developing a biotech corridor along the line.”

Rep. Katie Jones (DFL-Mpls) challenged Robbins on her comparison to the Green Line extension’s cost overruns and delays, saying they were primarily related to building an underwater tunnel, something absent from the Blue Line extension.