Controversial $1.9B MN light rail scores key federal approval

Dive Brief:

The Federal Transit Administration has authorized the Minneapolis-area regional Metropolitan Council to move forward with engineering on the 14.5-mile, $1.86 billion Southwest light-rail project, according to the Star Tribune.
The approval paves the way for rail staff to start drafting construction documents, with bidding on the first phases of the project scheduled for spring and early summer.
The Metropolitan Council said it will apply for a $928 million FTA grant in February, which it expects to receive in July. Heavy construction is scheduled to begin sometime in 2017, with passenger service scheduled for 2021.

Dive Insight:

It's only been a few months since the Metropolitan Council and other local agencies — with the encouragement of Gov. Mark Dayton — decided to close the $145 million gap left by the Minnesota Legislature after lawmakers denied funding for the project by just one vote in May. Without such a local financial commitment, the project would not have been eligible for the FTA grant. Critics of the eleventh-hour plan accused Dayton of trying to make an end run around the legislature's decision.

The FTA has already approved the environmental review for the project, a mandatory process for those seeking federal funding. However, a local activist group has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis opposing its proposed path through a recreational area, and that case is pending.

This scenario is similar to what has occurred with Maryland's $5.6 billion Purple Line rail project. The FTA had approved the project's initial environmental review and was days away from delivering a $900 million grant when U.S. District Court for DC Judge Richard Leon revoked both the FTA’s and state's approvals in response to a lawsuit filed by local residents. In addition to other areas of concern, the plaintiffs said the Purple Line's review omitted important information about ridership, and Leon agreed that rail officials failed to include accurate numbers related to the nearby Washington, DC, Metrorail.

Leon has now kicked that issue back over to the FTA to determine if another review is necessary, a lengthy process that could kill the project altogether.