# Corridor protection barrier *A $92.7 million Southwest Light Rail element that the Office of the Legislative Auditor found was let without competitive bidding (2023).* The **corridor protection barrier** is a $92.7 million element of the [[Southwest Light Rail]] transit construction project built by the [[Metropolitan Council (Minnesota)]].[^1] In March 2023 the [[Office of the Legislative Auditor (Minnesota)]] (OLA) reported that the barrier was let without competitive bidding.[^1] In the same report, the OLA found that the Council "did not hold its civil construction contractor accountable for repeated failures to provide an acceptable project schedule." It also found that the Council "was not fully transparent about the project's delays and cost increases."[^2] The OLA placed these findings within a broader "mismatch between the entities that fund" the project and the entity that builds it. It named Hennepin County as a funding partner with limited oversight.[^3] None of the members of the Council that let the contract is elected. Under [[Minn. Stat. § 473.123]], the [[governor]] appoints all sixteen district members and the chair.[^4] In January 2011, twelve years before the barrier finding, the OLA reported that the Council's regional transit planning role "has been hampered by how members are appointed." It recommended that the Council have both elected and appointed members.[^5] The record documents the barrier's dollar figure, its procurement method and the auditor's findings about it.[^1][^2] It does not establish why the barrier was let without competitive bidding. It also does not show whether, or by whom, the 2011 recommendation was taken up.[^4][^5] ## Who - **Metropolitan Council.** The Council is the entity that builds the Southwest Light Rail project and let the barrier contract.[^1][^3] Under Minn. Stat. § 473.123, it has sixteen members, whom the governor appoints from districts of substantially equal population. The governor also appoints a chair, with Senate advice and consent, who serves as the seventeenth voting member. Members' terms end with the governor's term.[^4] According to the Council's membership page, the current members' terms run from July 3, 2023, to January 4, 2027.[^6] - **Office of the Legislative Auditor.** The OLA issued the January 2011 governance report and the March 2023 Southwest Light Rail construction report.[^5][^1] - **Hennepin County.** The 2023 report named the county as a funding partner with limited oversight of the project.[^3] ## What The corridor protection barrier is a component of the Southwest Light Rail construction project. The 2023 OLA report examined that project in *Southwest Light Rail Transit Construction: Metropolitan Council Decision Making*.[^1] The report states that the $92.7 million barrier was let without competitive bidding.[^1] Its findings on the wider project include the following: - The Council did not hold its civil construction contractor accountable for repeated schedule failures.[^2] - The Council was not fully transparent about delays and cost increases.[^2] - The parties that fund the project are not the party that builds it.[^3] ## When - **January 2011.** The OLA published *Governance of Transit in the Twin Cities Region*. The report found that stakeholders "did not think that Met Council members are sufficiently accountable for their decisions." It concluded that "the structure of the Met Council must be addressed before other aspects of transit governance can be corrected."[^5][^7] - **2019.** This is the baseline year for the project cost of $2.003 billion recorded in the 2023 report.[^8] - **March 2023.** The OLA issued its Southwest Light Rail construction report, including the barrier finding.[^1] - **July 3, 2023 – January 4, 2027.** These are the terms of the current Council membership, as listed by the Council.[^6] ## Where The 2023 report named Hennepin County as a funding partner in the project.[^3] According to the Council's own district pages, seven of the Council's sixteen districts contain Hennepin County territory:[^9] - Districts 1, 5, 6, 7 and 8 lie entirely within the county. - Districts 2 and 3 contain Hennepin territory alongside [[Anoka]], Ramsey and Carver counties. ## How - **Procurement.** The OLA reports that the barrier was let without competitive bidding.[^1] - **Contractor oversight.** The OLA found that the Council did not hold its civil construction contractor accountable for repeated failures to provide an acceptable schedule.[^2] - **Governance structure.** The Council's members are appointed by the governor and serve terms tied to the governor's, not elected.[^4] - In 2011 the OLA recommended appointed and elected members serving staggered terms.[^5][^7] - The statute text published by the Revisor of Statutes provides for appointment of all members.[^4] ## How much - **Barrier:** $92.7 million, let without competitive bidding.[^1] - **Project:** costs rose from $2.003 billion in 2019 to $2.767 billion, as recorded by the OLA in March 2023.[^8] ## How many - **Members:** sixteen district members plus a chair, for seventeen voting members. All are appointed by the governor and none is elected.[^4] - **Districts:** seven of sixteen contain Hennepin County territory, and five lie entirely within it.[^9] ## In the at-issue record - **The 2023 audit and the funding mismatch** (at-issue entry 049). - **Finding.** This entry pairs the $92.7 million barrier let without competitive bidding with the OLA's contractor-accountability and transparency findings.[^1][^2] - **Oversight.** It also notes the OLA's naming of Hennepin County as a funding partner with limited oversight.[^3] - **Federal anchor.** The entry lists a March 2025 White House presidential action on fraud, waste and abuse as its federal anchor. The record does not excerpt that action, and this article draws no finding from it.[^10] - **At-issue page.** The page for this entry is [[At issue 049 - The 2023 audit found the Metropolitan Council let]]. ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, *Southwest Light Rail Transit Construction: Metropolitan Council Decision Making* (March 2023) — a $92.7 million corridor protection barrier was let without competitive bidding. https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/pedrep/swlrtcd.pdf [^2]: Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, *Southwest Light Rail Transit Construction: Metropolitan Council Decision Making* (March 2023) — the Council did not hold its civil construction contractor accountable for repeated schedule failures and was not fully transparent about delays and cost increases. https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/pedrep/swlrtcd.pdf [^3]: Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, *Southwest Light Rail Transit Construction: Metropolitan Council Decision Making* (March 2023) — a mismatch between funding entities and the building entity; Hennepin County named as a funding partner with limited oversight. https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/pedrep/swlrtcd.pdf [^4]: Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, *Minnesota Statutes § 473.123* (current text) — sixteen members appointed by the governor from districts of substantially equal population, plus a governor-appointed chair as seventeenth voting member with Senate advice and consent; terms end with the governor's term. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/473.123 [^5]: Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, *Governance of Transit in the Twin Cities Region* (summary, January 2011) — the planning role has been hampered by how members are appointed; stakeholders doubted members' accountability; recommends appointed and elected members on staggered terms. https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/2011/transitsum.htm [^6]: Metropolitan Council, *Council Members* (n.d.) — current membership and terms, July 3, 2023 – January 4, 2027. https://metrocouncil.org/About-Us/TheCouncil/CouncilMembers.aspx [^7]: Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, *Governance of Transit in the Twin Cities Region* (report, January 2011) — the structure of the Met Council must be addressed before other aspects of transit governance can be corrected. https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/pedrep/transsum.pdf [^8]: Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, *Southwest Light Rail Transit Construction: Metropolitan Council Decision Making* (March 2023) — project costs from $2.003 billion (2019) to $2.767 billion. https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/pedrep/swlrtcd.pdf [^9]: Metropolitan Council, *District 1* and parallel district pages (n.d.) — Districts 1, 5, 6, 7 and 8 lie entirely within Hennepin County; Districts 2 and 3 contain Hennepin territory alongside Anoka, Ramsey and Carver. https://metrocouncil.org/About-Us/Who-We-Are/CouncilMembers/Council-Districts-Map/District-1.aspx [^10]: The White House, *Presidential action on fraud, waste and abuse* (March 2025) — listed as the federal anchor of at-issue entry 049; content not excerpted in the record. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/