71° and Clear
MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Blue Line Extension Still Faces $224 Million Funding Gap Despite Increased Hennepin County Commitment
The proposed $3.39 billion light-rail project connecting Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park is approaching final design while officials continue searching for enough local money to unlock federal funding.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (September 3, 2026) The planned METRO Blue Line Extension remains approximately $224 million short of the local funding needed to advance the multibillion-dollar light-rail project linking Minneapolis with Brooklyn Park.
The gap remains despite Hennepin County substantially increasing its financial commitment and project officials proposing additional cost reductions.
The latest estimated cost of the Blue Line Extension is approximately $3.39 billion.
Hennepin County commissioners voted in August to increase the county's maximum commitment to the project to $1.896 billion.
That money would come from proceeds generated by the county's 0.5 percent transportation sales and use tax and related financing.
But the expanded commitment has not completely closed the local funding gap.
Project officials are looking at whether additional Metropolitan Council resources or other funding mechanisms could help fill the remaining $224 million.
That question is consequential because federal transit funding generally requires substantial local financial participation.
The Blue Line Extension would add approximately 13 miles to the existing METRO Blue Line, connecting downtown Minneapolis with North Minneapolis, Robbinsdale, Crystal and Brooklyn Park.
The line would include 12 new stations.
For Brooklyn Park and communities along the corridor, supporters have argued that the project would improve access to jobs, education and other destinations while attracting development around stations.
Critics have questioned its rising cost, route, potential disruption to businesses and whether projected ridership justifies the investment.
The Metropolitan Council says project staff are working toward completing the final design this year.
Construction is currently anticipated to begin in 2027.
The funding question therefore arrives at an important stage.
Hennepin County's August resolution significantly increased the amount the county is willing to contribute, but it also established a ceiling on that commitment.
Closing the remaining gap will require another funding source, additional project savings or some combination of the two.
The issue is particularly important for Brooklyn Park, which would become the northern terminus of the expanded Blue Line.
The extension has been discussed, redesigned and debated for years, including after earlier plans to run trains alongside freight-rail tracks were abandoned.
The current alignment would use portions of Bottineau Boulevard and West Broadway Avenue.
Project officials say completing the extension would connect communities in the northwestern metropolitan area directly to Minneapolis and the existing regional light-rail network.
Whether the project can remain on its current construction timetable may now depend partly on how officials solve the remaining $224 million problem.
STAY CONNECTED TO MINNEAPOLIMEDIA
Local stories matter. Subscribe free to MinneapoliMedia and receive independent news, community reporting and important updates from Minneapolis, the North Metro and communities across Minnesota.
SUBSCRIBE FREE: https://minneapolimedia.town.news/subscribe
MinneapoliMedia | Community. Culture. Civic Life
