Costs Could Top $3 Billion for Blue Line Light-Rail Extension

The Bottineau Blue Line light-rail extension project has a new, approximately $3 billion price tag, making it one of the most expensive public works projects in Minnesota history.

The Metropolitan Council released new cost estimates for the project this week. 

The 13.4-mile rail line is planned to run from downtown Minneapolis through Robbinsdale and Crystal and end in Brooklyn Park.

According to the Met Council, the base cost of the project is expected to be approximately $2.2 billion. 

But, adding another 35-40 percent in contingency costs brings the total between $2.9 billion and $3.2 billion. 

Earlier estimates for construction costs for the line — when it was still slated to run in the Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight rail corridor — were approximately $1.5 billion.

The new cost estimates for the Bottineau Line could exceed the nearly $2.9 billion costs for the Southwest light rail line.

County Commissioner Calls New Cost Estimates ‘Good News’

Despite the higher costs, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Lunde — who represents a large portion of the northwest suburbs on the county board — called the new estimates “good news.”

According to Lunde, about 49 percent of the funding is expected to come from the Federal Transit Administration, while the bulk of the remaining funding would come from Hennepin County sources.

He said costs could potentially come down as engineering plans move forward, and he’s optimistic for the chance to come in less expensive than Southwest.

“I think that’s one of the lessons we learned from Southwest, to have our numbers nailed down,” he said. “Some of the other feedback I’ve got was the FTA shared with us that this project is the lowest cost light rail project in the entire country at a per-mile cost.”

The Bottineau Blue Line Light Rail extension project has a new, approximately $3 billion price tag, making it one of the most expensive publics works projects in Minnesota history.

Ridership Stats

Based on new ridership statistics, the Met Council expects the METRO Blue Line system to have more than 30,000 riders per day. 

About half of the riders would come from households that do not own a car.

Lunde said this group of transit riders wants the dependability of a permanent rail line for their daily commute. 

“I think when you get light rail down people can start making decisions because that route is not going to change,” Lunde said. “It’s not going to move, it’s not going to get torn up, it’s always there. and I think that investment is important for us in the north side here. To say, ‘you can’t take it away from us.’ Because we’ve been given lots of promises over the years. We’ve waited patiently in line, and we know that this is our time.”

Lunde also said he believes the line will help create new east-west transit connections for suburban riders. 

“Up here, we’re always saying, we can get to Minneapolis but we can’t get from Maple Grove to Brooklyn Park,” he said. “We think that will deliver better ridership.”

The Met Council estimates the line could open for service in 2030.

Brooklyn Center | Brooklyn Park | Crystal | Golden Valley | Maple Grove | Robbinsdale