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MEWItO/STATE * Sw m u. -'P EBa
<br />· .2003 -
<br />
<br />group assails Northstar Rail figures
<br />
<br /> he legislators
<br /> x used proponents
<br />the commuter
<br />"ae of lying about
<br /> s bottom line.
<br /> 'C-nrad deFieb~e
<br />~ =r TrilmneSmffWri~r '
<br />~. Proponents of a commute*
<br /> it transl! link from Ihe St.
<br /> and area Ia Minneapolis
<br /> rye deliberatetI underesti-
<br /> amd i~ cost- now pegged
<br /> $310 milUon -- in an effo~t '
<br /> win public support, iegisla-
<br /> alleged Man-
<br /> opponents
<br />
<br />~ *Tt's gej~ ~ al over again,
<br />c~ icl 1~.: Phil Kdnlde, B-Shore-
<br />r~ ew~ i~kening the No~dtatar
<br />~ fi plantothe $715 millinn Hi-
<br />r-- ,rathe Light Rail project now
<br />nder construction,' whose
<br /> ~sts have risen by at least $Z~3
<br />c~dllion from origins! esti-
<br />Id_ ~ates, "This project will cost
<br /> trer $500 million by the time
<br /> ~ get all lee true costs,"
<br />
<br />Northstar response ctshtp projections to- Pawlenty
<br /> rellecting inflation and the
<br /> gDO{) U.S. Census, Yantos said.
<br /> The odginal proposal, subnfit-
<br /> ted in ZOO0, was ca~efully scm-
<br /> tinized by federal officials, giv-
<br /> en a high national rating and
<br /> included in President
<br /> 2002 budget, he added.
<br /> The rail link makes sense,
<br /> Yantos said, because the popu-
<br /> lation along the corridor is
<br /> growing rapidly. That growth is
<br /> causing serio~t$ congestion on'
<br /> Interstate Hwy. 94 and Hwy.
<br /> 10, the two main mutes file rail
<br /> line woald suppJemel]t. The
<br /> toads me not scheduled to be
<br />
<br />. An official with the project,
<br />however, denied that the nam-
<br />bets had been manytdated,
<br /> At a State Capitolnews con-
<br />ference, Krinkie, slx other Re-
<br />publican legislators and a lead-
<br />er o[: the Taxpayers League of
<br />MLrmesota fired the flu'st volley
<br />in what is expected m be a bat-
<br />fie over transportation spend-
<br />il~ in the 20Q4 Lel~at~e. The
<br />lq o~thstaf projecl, wl~ch would
<br />use existing t~acks owned by
<br />Btalington Northern Santa Fe
<br />Raibr~ray, bas been blocked for
<br />years By opposition from
<br />House Republicans, but GnP
<br />Gay. Tim Pawlenty has sig-
<br />naled a willingness to recon-
<br />sider the line if it is sho~,m to be
<br />cost-effective.
<br /> The critics we{e armed
<br />Monday with a new Burlington
<br />Northern Santa Fe cost esti-
<br />mate for t~ack and signal im-
<br />p{0~emenls needed for Ihe
<br />t~ansit link; they also cited a
<br />2002 Danish stady maintaining
<br />that steep cost overruns ate
<br />common on government rail
<br />peoject$ worldwide and m~y,
<br />ia the study's wo~l~, 'be best
<br />
<br />explained by strategic misrep-
<br />resentation, i.e., lying,'
<br /> The railroad said the tm-
<br />prn~ements would cost $136
<br />million in 2005, the earliest
<br />time ~at cona~uction could
<br />stol, That ia-mole ~ ~
<br />~e $57 m~on b~ ~at p~ of
<br />lhe p~oject quoted by the
<br />Horthstar Co~:id0r Develop-
<br />m~t ~ori~ M iu propos~
<br />m ~e F~e*~ %msit Ad~s-
<br />~atiam
<br /> ~e amy n~be{s we
<br />count ae ~e ones [BurHn~on
<br />No.em S~m Fei ~ si~
<br />on/' smd Sezt Mady R~ter,
<br />Sh~, a former employee
<br />of the railroad. 'We cannot
<br />foxce ~e l~road lo eat
<br />increased costs of pro~di~
<br />~ ne~st boondo~e."
<br /> Dasd Strum of ~e
<br />e~ ~a~e s~ the No~st~
<br />amhe{ity has known of rail-
<br />road estimates much hi.er
<br />~an its o~ fu~ yes{s..
<br />Z5O p~cent oaps ~ j~st ~e
<br />df many camln~ down the
<br />
<br />a long se~es old.epilog."
<br />
<br /> But an executive of the
<br />Not.star authority, a coalition
<br />of 30 local governments along
<br />the proposed tiansit route, said
<br />the discrepancy reflects a
<br />tough negotiation, not an at.
<br />tempt 1:o deceive anyone.
<br /> '¢~t~e have never cooked the
<br />numbers," said Tier Yantos,
<br />Northstar project director.
<br />'We're trying to protect the
<br />public, doing a~ goad ajob of
<br />negotiating as we can. The rat[-
<br />mad woMd like as man)' im-
<br />provements to their track as
<br />theT can gel. You can't blame
<br />them for that.~
<br /> The railxoa[! has said it will
<br />not settle the sluw-mo~ing
<br />talks until state funding for the
<br />project is secured. ~acker$ a~e
<br />hoping for legislative approval
<br />next year a! $124 million in
<br />borrowing to pay the stale
<br />shale of the cost, The ~est
<br />woMd be borne by {be federal
<br />and local governments.
<br /> Next month, the Northstar
<br />authority and the Minnesota
<br />D~pazl~enl of Transportation.
<br />will present new cost a6d fid-
<br />
<br />-dpgraded far decades and add- ~ '
<br />-ing lanes would cost several
<br /> thnes the price of the Nortl~tax
<br /> project, he said.
<br /> Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-
<br /> FrMI~, sponso~ of the No~la-
<br /> sta~ funding bill, branded the
<br /> accusations o! lying about
<br /> costs '~£e.~pon.~ible." He also
<br /> expressed confidence that
<br /> Paw[only and the DFL~con-
<br /> I:olled Senale will back the
<br /> p~ject. 'q'he real Ruesfion is;
<br /> 'What aboul the HouseV" he
<br />
<br /> Stat Trlbtme ma
<br />
<br />' said.
<br /> Krinkie heads the Hous~
<br /> Capital Investment Commil;'
<br /> tee, which x'fields control
<br /> slate I~r[awin~. lie aa.id that
<br /> he is sat~ied the pmj~ct.x~ll
<br /> reduce cenge.~fion at a reason-
<br /> able cost core, amd with other
<br /> solutions, ~I d be willing
<br /> support
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