Two tunnels in Kenilworth approved for SW light rail

Six months after Gov. Mark Dayton postponed major decisions on the embattled Southwest light rail project, the Metropolitan Council approved a pair of $160 million tunnels Wednesday through a wooded corridor in Minneapolis.

The Met Council voted 14 to 2 to keep freight trains beside a bike trail in the Kenilworth Corridor, and send the light rail trains through shallow tunnels. The passenger trains would surface for about 20 seconds to cross a bridge over a water channel between Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles.

Several Met Council members, while acknowledging the Kenilworth solution wasn't perfect, spoke of the regional importance of building the third LRT spine in the Twin Cities.

"This is really about building a project for the next century," Met Council Chair Susan Haigh said.

Wednesday's vote, which approves the entire scope and $1.68 billion budget for the project, triggers the process known as municipal consent.

The Met Council is seeking the support of all five cities touching the line, including Minneapolis, where city leaders fear construction of the tunnels would degrade a scenic area popular with bicyclists and joggers.

City officials also wanted existing freight traffic to leave the corridor.

Over the next couple of months, Minneapolis will need to negotiate with the Met Council if the project is to meet a key deadline by the end of June.

Haigh said it's important to find out in the coming weeks how to get the largest city in the state to "yes."

"I cannot imagine this region moving forward with a $1.6 billion project to move 30,000 people a day into the city of Minneapolis without the support of the city of Minneapolis," she said.

Haigh said the plans for Southwest could change in the coming months as Minneapolis and the Met Council try to find common ground. The project approved Wednesday is almost identical to the one the Met Council was poised to vote on last fall, before Dayton ordered additional time to study environmental concerns raised by Minneapolis.

One of the dissenting Met Council members was Gary Cunningham, who is married to Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges. He spoke of broken promises in the planning process and said some of the social-equity arguments in favor of the project were overstated.

"I stand with the elected representatives of Minneapolis," Cunningham said.

Cunningham, vice president of the Northwest Area Foundation, said he's not sure the project will reduce racial disparities in Minneapolis as some supporters have argued.

But he said new streetcar lines through the city could make sure low-income people and communities of color have access to light-rail.

"Right now what I'm hearing from Hennepin County and others is they won't support streetcars," he said. "But they want to talk about equity for the Southwest line. We should be talking about how ...we build this whole system out so that everyone can benefit."

But Haigh, the Met Council chair, said there is no dedicated funding stream for streetcars.

And Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin noted the project is already spending $160 million on the tunnels to ease concerns in Minneapolis.

"The best path to streetcars is to build Southwest and move on to other investments in the region," McLaughlin said.

The Met Council has resolved to pursue racial-equity goals ranging from minority hiring during light-rail construction to the creation of affordable housing in the Southwest corridor, McLaughlin said.

The other "no" vote against the project came from Met Council Member Wendy Wulff of Lakeville, who said she preferred to examine other light-rail routes that served denser neighborhoods in Minneapolis.

Building light rail to the southwest suburbs has suffered from delays, soaring costs, and acrimony that has pitted residents of Minneapolis against St. Louis Park. Last month, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously for a resolution against the tunnels.

But Met Council member Adam Duininck said he remained optimistic that the project would advance.

"We need to move from here today into the next phase with humility and grace... and solve the challenging issues, because I do think there's a way," Duininck said. "I believe we're making the right choice on this project, but what I really want to say is how much more excited I am about building the rest of the transit system."

The nearly 16-mile Southwest light-rail project would connect Minneapolis to Eden Prairie in 2019 at the earliest. It's an extension of the Green Line, which will connect the downtowns of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota June 14.