根据一项，明尼苏达州西南轻轨运输（西南LRT）的延长距计划近9年，预算比15亿美元。最近发布的报告来自州立法机关立法审计办公室，无党派审计服务。

西南轻轨绿线延伸旨在将明尼阿波利斯市中心与伊甸草原，霍普金斯，米内顿卡和圣路易斯公园的郊区社区联系起来。The project began in 2011 with an expected completion date in 2018.伦达/C.S. McCrossan迄今为止，该州最大的基础设施项目将获得7.995亿美元的低价授予民事建筑合同。该项目包括建造16个新运输站，两个轻轨隧道和一个14.5英里的轨道。目前预计直到2027年才能完成。截至8月，大约60％的生产线已建成，大部分位于城市西部。但是，只有40％的墙壁和隧道穿过市中心，包括稳定附近建筑物的基础。

The audit found three main factors driving the project’s cost overruns and delays:

• Disagreement over the route and its proximity to the existing freight line
• Construction of a complex and controversial tunnel in Minneapolis’ environmentally sensitive Kenilworth corridor
• 需要货运导轨和轻轨交通之间的混凝土屏障墙

The fight over these issues among the Metropolitan Council—which is overseeing design, engineering, construction and future operations of the light rail line—and the environmentalists and local residents is only one source of the delay. As of April 29, the council had approved 622 change orders, with a net cost of $225 million, according to the audit report. About 73% of the change orders pertained to the civil construction contract, 20% to modifications of the operations and maintenance facility, and 6% to the systems contract.

The design and engineering contractor for the project, AECOM Technical Services, first complained about the change orders and quality of construction back in 2019, according to anauditor’s letter. “There has been a prolonged and significant difference of opinion between representatives of the Metropolitan Council and AECOM regarding the preparation of independent cost estimates on the Southwest LRT project, as well as other project issues,” the auditor’s letter reads. “We have not examined the validity of AECOM’s allegations or the council’s responses.”

Not all contractors involved are as critical of the project’s progress. “In our opinion, the Metropolitan Council and Lunda C.S. McCrossan joint venture are really working together efficiently, but this is a very complex project,” says DennisBehnke，Lunda Construction总裁兼首席执行官。“西南轻轨项目的民用部分受到1000多个所有者要求和第三方计划的更改的影响。”

The most expensive and project-slowing plan changes have included “adding a crash wall between an existing freight rail and light rail, changes and delays to the Kenilworth tunnel, a complex cut-and-cover tunnel shoehorned between a condominium complex and an active freight rail, and adding a station,” Behnke adds.

He says that his companies and the council have been working “cooperatively to deliver the project at the least cost while mitigating schedule delays.”

Behnke说，共同商定的变更包括：

• 重新考虑项目时间表
• Resequencing the 16 project segment completion dates to turn over completed portions of the project as soon as possible
• 添加临时里程碑以减少延迟并提高效率
• 同意合作解决公开项目问题和争议的替代性争议解决过程

明尼苏达州众议员弗兰克·霍恩斯坦（Frank Hornstein）发起了审计，并担任众议院运输金融和政策委员会主席，将大部分延误和超支归咎于与货运线旁边的轻轨线一起。

他说：“有一个可行的选择，可以将货运线路路由最初的货运线路，”他说。相反，他们与轻轨共同置于货运线，这需要在非常敏感的土壤中在非常狭窄的走廊中架起隧道两个湖泊之间的区域。该报告发现的 - 我们许多人已经知道的是，这一决定建造该隧道并将其定位为政治决定。它不是基于技术分析的，因为直到2012年之前的所有技术报告都说这样做是没有意义的。但是后来有郊区的反对货运导轨要去，所以他们翻了过去。”

When the project was announced in 2011, the council estimated a cost of $1.25 billion. As of the time of the audit report, the budget had more than doubled to $2.74 billion. The council hasn’t publicly identified a source for a more than $500 million shortfall — more than 20% of the current budget.

邦妮·科洛德（Bonnie Kollodge），，，，理事会的发言人说，该理事会正在努力提出资金解决方案，以弥补今年年底的短缺。

Kollodge说：“是否有可能避免建造隧道，经过多年的计划和设计后，隧道建设正在进行和正在进行。任何建筑停机，永久性或其他方式，只会导致成本增加，并导致周围地区的额外中断18luck.cub。”

她说，理事会遵循国家制定的招标过程的指南，该程序的任何更改都必须由州立法机关进行。

参议院运输委员会主席斯科特·纽曼（Scott Newman）在批准该项目的立法审核后说：“他们走得太远了，无法停止，而且太贵了，无法继续前进。他们将要做什么？继续浪费纳税人的钱。”