Southwest LRT Typo Underestimates Co-location Costs by $100M

The error, which arose out of editing and formatting changes, does not change the conclusions of the project’s draft environmental impact statement.

Engineering consultants have identified a $100 million typo in a Southwest Light Rail Transit report that understates the cost of putting the Twin Cities & Western freight line in the same corridor as the light rail—an option known as “co-location.” The draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) listed the “professional services” cost of option 3A-1—the co-location alternative—as “$99,357 (in thousands).” That should have read “$199,357 (in thousands).” The difference between the two figures is $100 million but does not alter the conclusions of the DEIS. “While I'm dismayed that an error of this nature was made, we all think it's important to be transparent, to identify the error and make the correction immediately,” Hennepin County …

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