Met Council asks DEED for money for Southwest LRT
The Metropolitan Council today filed its application for DEED grant money for the Southwest Corridor Light Rail project. Met Council is asking for up to $14 million for the SWLRT, which would run through the southwest suburbs between Minneapolis and Eden Prairie.
The competition for the $47.5 million DEED economic development fund created by lawmakers in the 2012 legislative session will be steep. MPR News has identified at least seven projects that plan to ask DEED for money - requests that add up to more than double the $47.5 million available.
Met Council officials say the DEED money would cover the state's funding share for the transit project through mid-2014 and help pay for preliminary engineering on the project.
Twin Cities business leaders have come out in favor of the Metropolitan Council's application.
State officials extended the deadline to apply for the economic development money to July 9. DEED hopes to announce the winners as early as Sept. 1.
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