State Representative John Petersburg, Republican Lead on the Minnesota House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee, issued the following statement after learning the Met Council and Hennepin County had reached an agreement on how to pay for the Southwest Light Rail project funding gap.
“While it’s nice to hear how the additional costs of the Southwest Light Rail boondoggle are going to be paid for, it’s unfortunate that taxpayers will be on the hook. This predicament could have easily been avoided if Governor Walz and his Met Council appointees had not rubber-stamped every project cost overrun. Because of these poor decisions, this project has nearly doubled in cost and is still years away from completion.”