Documents explain why Met Council rejected URS Corp.

Newly-released documents shed light on why the Metropolitan Council rejected URS Corporation for engineering work on the planned Southwest light rail line.

Last year, San Francisco-based URS was criticized for designing the Martin Olav Sabo pedestrian and bicycle bridge in Minneapolis, where cables snapped.

Met Council evaluation reports from November, first obtained by the Star Tribune make no mention of the Sabo bridge. But they do show the Met Council found weaknesses in the company's bid for work on Southwest LRT.

Among other issues, evaluators found URS Corp's proposal inadequately addressed community involvement in the project. They also found URS' bid was weak on plans for station area and transit-oriented development along the line. They found the firm was also weak on achieving municipal consent.

Municipal consent is critical to the project, which will run through five cities from Minneapolis to Eden Prairie.