MINNEAPOLIS — A joint venture between a subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Tutor Perini Corp. (NYSE: TPC) and Minnesota-based C.S. McCrossan has been awarded a $799.5 million construction contract from the Metropolitan Council for the Southwest Light Rail Transit project in Minneapolis.
According to local media sources, the project carries a total price tag of about $2 billion, about half of which stems from federal funding. In addition, the project could create as many as 7,500 construction jobs.
As the largest public infrastructure deal in Minnesota’s history, the regional project will deliver a 14.5-mile extension of the METRO Green Line. In addition to new light rail infrastructure, the project will deliver 44 bridges, two cut-and-cover tunnels and 16 new light rail stations.
The new line will connect the southwestern suburb of Eden Prairie to downtown Minneapolis. New rail stations will also service the suburbs of Edina, Hopkins and Minnetonka.
“This news is long-awaited and hard-earned,” Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said last week. “The Southwest Light Rail Transit project is a critical economic development project. When complete, it will improve many thousands of lives from Eden Prairie to North Minneapolis. It will create new jobs, reduce highway congestion, and better connect Minnesotans to one another.”
Preliminary work is slated to begin in December, with major construction activity ramping up in spring 2019. A target completion date has not yet been announced, but when the project was originally bid on in May, the estimated duration of the contract was 42 months. Local media sources report that passenger service could begin by 2023.
The population of Minneapolis is expected to grow by 50 percent by 2035, which has necessitated more infrastructure projects. A new light rail line now connects downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, giving residents access to Allianz Field, the $200 million soccer stadium for Minnesota United FC.
The stadium is currently under construction and slated for a spring-2019 completion. RD Management LLC is also developing a 20-acre mixed-use project near the stadium that will feature office, retail, hotel and multifamily components.
Tutor Perini’s stock price closed at $17.83 per share on Friday, November 16, down from $23.85 per share a year ago.
— Taylor Williams