Behind-the-scenes Metropolitan Council communications with local officials and others are fair game in a lawsuit claiming the agency prematurely locked in a route for the Southwest light-rail line, a federal magistrate ruled Monday.
The oral ruling was a victory for the Lakes and Parks Alliance (LPA), a group of opponents of the line's path through western Minneapolis who sued the Met Council in 2014. The regional planning agency sought to block the LPA's request for a wide range of communiqués, including Met Council correspondence with City Council members, local government employees and prospective contractors about the project.
"This is what we wanted, and we were pleased that the court granted it," said Lewis Remele, an attorney for the LPA. The ruling remains subject to appeal.
The proposed $1.77 billion Southwest light rail would travel from downtown Minneapolis to the western suburbs, hitting St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Minnetonka and Eden Prairie. It is expected to open in 2020.
The lawsuit centers on the controversial combination of Southwest light rail, freight traffic and recreational trail users in the Kenilworth corridor near the Chain of Lakes, the routing preferred by the Met Council. Squeezing the three modes together there requires building a series of new tunnels and bridges in the wooded area.
The plaintiffs claim the Met Council improperly limited itself to that alignment, rather than remaining open to other alternatives, before completing the full environmental review process. The council says it is following processes outlined in state and federal law and has not prematurely closed the door on future changes.
The final environmental review for the project, now in a draft stage, is due to be released this summer.
"We want to know what the discussions have been, what the negotiations have been and the process that led to this determination of the tunnel route," Remele told U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Rau.