SW light rail Minneapolis vote nears deadline

The City of Minneapolis has just two weeks left to decide whether to support the Southwest light rail line that would run to Eden Prairie.

Every city along the proposed line has until July 14 to vote on the project. Hopkins and Minnnetonka have already approved it. St. Louis Park and Hennepin County are scheduled to vote next week, Eden Prairie the week after that.

But Minneapolis has yet to even schedule a hearing on the issue. Officials been locked in closed-door meetings with the Metropolitan Council for more than a month. The parties are negotiating with the the help of a mediator. They've stayed tight-lipped about the status of those talks -- or even what's on the table.

In April, the Met Council voted to bury the trains in shallow tunnels as they pass between Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles -- something the city opposed.

Many residents who live in that area want Minneapolis to vote no. A coalition of groups from the city's north side are lobbying for a yes vote.

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