"Southwest light rail is a boondoggle of historic proportions," said Sen. The report's conclusion that the council was not "fully transparent" with the public and legislators about the project's burgeoning cost and delays proved irresistible to the agency's many critics. They added that the Met Council "knew that problems were present yet did not share these concerns until much later." "The lack of prior planning, an enforceable schedule, competitive bid process, and peer review process all led to increased costs and long delays," Dibble and Hornstein said in their statement. The duo, the driving force behind the legislative auditor's probe, are pushing for Met Council members to be elected rather than appointed. Frank Hornstein, both Minneapolis DFLers, in a joint statement. The report, presented Wednesday to the Legislative Audit Commission, "reiterated our concerns over the mismanagement of this project" by the Met Council, said Sen. Service on the line between downtown Minneapolis and Eden Prairie is expected to begin in 2027, nearly a decade behind schedule. Southwest - at more than $1 billion over budget, the state's most expensive public works project ever - is more than 70% complete, but its budget is still short $272 million, according to the report. The 42-page report, the second of four expected on the troubled project, questions the way the job was bid, the council's seemingly fraught relationship with its main contractor, and the lack of transparency in communicating the project's numerous issues to the public. The Metropolitan Council continued to spend millions on the $2.7 billion Southwest light-rail line even though there wasn't enough money to finish a project that had already become rife with delays and cost overruns, according to a report released Wednesday by the Office of the Legislative Auditor.
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