After years of delays and cost overruns, Minneapolis’ $2.74 billion Metro Green Line Extension finally has a finish line in sight — and the funding to get it there. In August, Hennepin County and the Metropolitan Council, the lead public agency on the project, reached an agreement to bridge the $340 million funding gap to complete the project.

“We’re able to ensure not only that we’re finishing the project, but where the funding come from,” Charlie Zelle, Metropolitan Council Chair, said in a Green Line Extension Management Committee meeting earlier this month. “What a difference a year makes.” 

A joint venture of Black River Falls, Wisconsin-headquartered Lunda and Maple Grove, Minnesota-based McCrossan is building the light rail extension, which has doubled in cost and is nine years behind schedule.

Long delayed

The Green Line Extension was announced to much fanfare as a key transit project to connect Minneapolis’ southwest suburbs to the city. It includes 14.5 miles of light rail tracks, 16 new transit stations, two light rail tunnels, 29 new bridges, six pedestrian tunnels, 121 retaining walls, freight rail reconstruction and trail reconstruction, among other improvements.

When complete, it will be part of an integrated system of transitways, including connections to the Metro Blue Line, the Northstar Commuter Rail line, major bus routes and proposed future transitways, according to the Metropolitan Council.

In 2011, the cost estimate for the work was $1.25 billion, with an anticipated open date of 2018. However, the project has been mired in delays and cost overruns since before construction began. The cost of the project has more than doubled to $2.7 billion, and is now scheduled to open in 2027, according to a 2022 report from the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor.

The report also concluded that about $535 million of the budget remaining to finish the project was unfunded. In addition, it found that the Council issued 658 change orders between March 2019 and October 2022, which added about $220 million in costs.

The audit led to a lot of finger-pointing. A spokesperson from Lunda/McCrossan told the Star Tribune that the auditor ignored critical issues with its design that led to cost overruns and delays, and that it lacks the necessary expertise to criticize the way the line has been constructed. The watchdog agency said the Council did not adequately enforce several parts of its construction contract and lacked “adequate documentation to support some project decisions.” 

Lunda/McCrossan did not respond to Construction Dive’s request for comment.

The project has become a political flashpoint. In August, three Metropolitan Council members voted against the agreement, with two calling for more transparency in vetting the budget, according to the Eden Prairie Local News. Minnesota State Senator Scott Dibble told KSTP-TV that “There is no amount of money out there that [the Met Council] won’t take to complete this project,” and also claimed that the Metropolitan Council “operates, out of sight, out of view, without the accountability and transparency and management of an elected body.”

Still, on Sept. 13, the Metropolitan Council approved the funding agreement by voice vote.

New progress

The new agreement maps out who will pay for what to finish the project, which is 75% complete. The Council agreed to cover 45% of costs associated with completing construction and beginning fare-paying passenger service, up to $150 million. Hennepin County will pay 55%, up to $190 million. If the costs go beyond those numbers, they’ll split it on a 50-50 basis. 

Hennepin County and the Metropolitan Council declined Construction Dive’s interview requests.

The Metropolitan Council will also be funding the start-up costs to get passenger service running. It also added time for members to more fully evaluate the Green Line agreement and a $75.3 million grant from Hennepin County for a Blue Line Extension light rail project between downtown Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. The grant would fund pre-construction tasks through 2024, the Eden Prairie Local News reported. 

The budget will be sent to the Federal Transportation Administration for review and approval in 2024, according to Jim Alexander, Green Line Extension project director, who spoke at the Oct. 4 committee meeting. He also reported that contractors have made progress in multiple areas, including trail improvements on portions of the South Cedar Lake and Minnesota River Bluffs trails; elements of the Southwest, City West and Shady Oak stations, including parking lots, ramps and passenger dropoff areas; and track work on the Minnetonka/Hopkins light rail track bridge.

“I’m really pleased we have it in place,” Zelle said at the meeting, adding that they are currently in the process of reviewing the budget and working with their “contractors to accelerate what would have been even greater delays.”

“The most important thing is we actually now have this framework for how to fund that,” he said. “I think ultimately it gives more confidence to the project and we can do what we’re doing efficiently.”