Minnesota Senate Unanimously Approves Southwest Light Rail Audit

CBS Minnesota

March 15, 2022

The Minnesota Senate voted unanimously Monday to approve an audit of a more than $2 billion light rail line that’s been marred by delays and huge cost overruns since the transit project broke ground in 2019.

The bill allocates $200,000 to the Legislative Auditor’s office to conduct a special review of the Southwest Light Rail Transit project, which is shaping up as one of the most expensive public works projects in state history. The audit will include evaluations of project costs and overruns, changes to the project schedule, the qualifications of project management staff and quality of construction, among other criteria.

It also requires the Metropolitan Council to provide project updates to lawmakers every six months and notify lawmakers immediately if the project costs go 5% over budget more than they already are.

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