Southwest LRT

The Southwest LRT (Metro Green Line Extension) is an under–construction 14.5-mile (23.3 km) light rail transit corridor in Hennepin County, Minnesota, with service between Minneapolis and Eden Prairie. The estimated one-way travel time from Southwest Station in Eden Prairie to Target Field Station in Minneapolis is 32 minutes. The Southwest LRT will extend through St. Louis Park, Hopkins and Minnetonka along the route. Major locations on the line will include Bde Maka Ska, Cedar Lake, the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and Target Field in downtown Minneapolis.

Hennepin County selected the alignment of the route and worked with the Metropolitan Council on environmental impact statements for the project. The Metropolitan Council is managing construction of the route. On November 15, 2018, the council accepted an $800 million construction bid by Lunda Construction and C.S. McCrossan, with early construction starting in December 2018. The project has had numerous construction delays, especially at the site of a tunnel near the Kenilworth Trail corridor.

The delays have increased the cost of the project from an estimated $1.3 billion in 2013 to $2.86 billion in 2024 and pushed back the expected opening date first from 2018 to 2023, then to 2027, resulting in bipartisan criticism of the Metropolitan Council and Hennepin County for mismanagement. The Southwest LRT is the most expensive public works project in Minnesota history.