The Minneapolis area's regional transportation council says the price tag for the Southwest light rail project to connect downtown and the southwestern suburb of Eden Prairie has increased $18 million, to a total of nearly $1.86 billion, according to the Star Tribune.
Metropolitan Council officials said that 50% of the increase will be borne by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), but because Minnesota lawmakers refused to fund a $135 million piece of the project in May, local taxpayers are on the hook for the remaining $9 million.
FTA conditions for its $929 million grant for the project include that state and local public entities match the amount, but, according to Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, Republicans are still opposed to the deal, as well as to the funding of other transit projects, as the Legislature heads toward a potential special session.
