There is general agreement that difficulties dogging the Green Line Extension (Southwest Light Rail Project) are mainly associated with the long “cut and cover” tunnel in the Kenilworth corridor.
Newspaper coverage of this project’s delays and increased costs often blames the Metropolitan Council for poor planning, poor communication with the general contractor, not being open about needing more money, not listening to neighbors.
Having attended scores of public planning meetings over a decade, it’s hard to believe some of these accusations. We heard open and vigorous debate between citizens who supported the Kenilworth route and others who wanted to put the train in south Minneapolis. Council members listened carefully and eventually chose the Kenilworth route because it met cost and ridership criteria that would qualify for federal matching funds.
Much of the current criticism of the council comes from people who supported the south Minneapolis option, and their state legislators. We feel a need to add context.
The updated cost per mile estimate for this project ($190 million) is less than comparable projects in Seattle, Portland, Phoenix and Los Angeles and similar to many others (see the recent Legislative Auditor’s report for a comparison of cost). This means the original cost estimates were unrealistically low, rather than final costs are too high or that construction has been inefficient or wasteful.
Many factors outside the Met Council’s control contributed to delays. A group of neighbors sued to stop construction, alleging an improper route selection process. A judge ruled against them. Preliminary engineering showing that the tunnel would not adversely affect nearby lakes was challenged. An outside hydrology consultant was hired and after several months confirmed the feasibility of the original plans. None of these experts predicted that large rocks would be found deep underground in the area’s sandy outwash soil.
Neighbors requested no pile driving be done near their homes, so a very slow “press-in piler” was used to construct tunnel walls. Considerable time was lost trying to convince the TC&W railroad to move its operations out of this narrow corridor, as originally agreed. It refused.
The BNSF railroad’s request for a $90 million dollar crash wall came at the 11th hour. It seemed excessive in scope, but had to be honored to obtain an easement for the area between the Target Field and Bryn Mawr stations.
Funding sources available to help cover increased costs dried up as state legislators became reluctant to allocate money for metro projects, and suburban counties bailed out of the Counties’ Transit Improvement Board. The legislative auditor’s report describing the resulting “mismatch” between Southwest’s financial needs and its funding sources is accurate, but not the fault of the Met Council.
Without doubt, the Council has made mistakes. But we need to resist the human temptation to jump to simple answers and simple solutions. It’s important to get this right, while looking for better ways to fund future projects, and while considering whether or not elected council members would actually do a better job.
Barry Schade and Richard Adair both are Bryn Mawr neighbors in Minneapolis.
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