Tempers flare over funding gap for the $3.5 billion Blue Line Extension

The fate of the $3.5 billion Blue Line Extension light rail project took on new urgency at a special meeting at Metro Transit headquarters in Minneapolis on Thursday afternoon.

A committee made up of local elected officials, appointed members of the Metropolitan Council and community members is now scrambling for solutions to a budget gap of about $200 million.

RELATED: Cost of $3B Blue Line Extension project increases again — by over $330M

The gap has to be resolved before managers can apply for federal funding worth more than $750 million.

The shortfall of local funding c...