One month after the Hennepin County Board approved a nearly $2.3 billion contribution to the Blue Line Extension project, there is still a $224 million gap in funding for the proposed light rail route connecting Brooklyn Park, Crystal and Robbinsdale to downtown Minneapolis.
That funding gap was one major focus of a Sept. 1 public meeting at the Brooklyn Park Library, where elected officials and transportation leaders discussed various Blue Line Extension updates. The total estimated cost of the project currently stands at $3.58 billion.
Project managers noted two amenities previously included in the design process, which is more than 90% complete, were recently cut in an effort to reduce costs. Both changes are along the Brooklyn Park portion of the 13-mile corridor: a pedestrian bridge at the 63rd Avenue intersection has been redesigned as a street-level crossing, and the multi-story Oak Grove park-and-ride has been scaled down to a surface lot…