(VIDEO) Take a Tour of the Southwest LRT Route

Want a better look at where the proposed Southwest Light Rail Transit line will run? The Metropolitan Council released a nine-minute video that offers a guided tour of the route.

Using Google Earth, the video takes viewers along the route approved to enter preliminary engineering—from Mitchell Station in Eden Prairie to Target Field Station in Minneapolis. Along the way, narration describes the stops, new infrastructure and other key features of the route.

Southwest’s prospects remain uncertain, though. The bonding bill before the 2012 legislative session was to contain $25 million for light rail, but lawmakers ultimately did not include Southwest LRT.

That $25 million was to be part of a $125 million total state contribution to the project. Federal money and county funds that are required to be spent on transit would match that, including a federal share of $625 million.

Rail supporters are now trying to find other funding sources for the state's share.