Light Rail Comes To The Twin Cities... Finally

The way has been cleared for a federal funding agreement to besignedand a groundbreaking ceremony to be held this week. According to theStarTribune of Minneapolis and St. Paul, if Congress didn't sign off on theproject by January 31, state funding for the project would have beenrevokedand the project would have collapsed. After years of debate over whetherandwhere to build the line, support gathered around the Hiawatha Line in1998when the Minnesota legislature agreed to help pay for the route. Thenextchallenge will be to build the line on time within its $675 millionbudget.Contracts for construction and rolling stock will be activated as soonasthe Federal Transit Administration signs the full funding grantagreementcommitting $334 million to the project. The Met Council, the regionalplanning agency for the seven-county Twin Cities area, will own the railline, and Metro Transit will run it.