ST. CLOUD --We told you last week the West Metro Corridor project would stop if the state government shuts down. But, today Stearns County Highway Engineer Mitch Anderson told the county board they can't afford any delays in the project.  He says they need to get it open to traffic by the scheduled date in November.

Anderson says that means the county will have to "front" the money to handle materials testing that MnDOT normally does.

He also says MnDOT handles the payment processing of the federal dollars in the project. Anderson says the county's highway department has the money to make the payments for up to two months in the event of a shutdown.

Commissioners are asking the highway department to get confirmation of reimbursement before they take action on the request next week.

More From AM 1240 WJON