West Metro Corridor To Continue During Government Shutdown

ST. CLOUD -- Work on the West Metro Corridor project will move forward despite the government shutdown.

Assistant Stearns County Engineer Jodi Teich says they didn't have the luxury to shut down the project.  She says it was unacceptable to risk the project not opening to traffic before winter.

The other problem was that the contractor would have claims against the county for lost productivity as their equipment sat idle. She says the cost to pay those claims would be the county's responsibility because it would not be eligible for state or federal reimbursement.

The county will use its highway fund reserves to fund the project during the shutdown.