Minneapolis Group Files Lawsuit to Stop Light Rail

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A local nonprofit has filed a federal lawsuit in an effort to stall a $1.6 billion Southwest Metro Transit light rail project connecting downtown Minneapolis to the southwestern suburbs.

The 24-page complaint filed Monday by the Lakes and Parks Alliance of Minneapolis names the Federal Transit Agency, the Metropolitan Council and its chairwoman Susan Haigh as defendants. The group is seeking to halt progress on the project until an appropriate environmental review has been conducted on the proposed route through the Kenilworth Corridor.

George Puzak, an Alliance board member, says hundreds of thousands of walkers, joggers, bikers, canoers, kayakers and skiers who use the corridor each year would be affected.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Council declined to comment on the lawsuit, but she said work on the project would continue unless the court orders it to stop.