In an attempt to force the Southwest light rail project forward, Governor Mark Dayton made a new move in January with the release of his proposed state budget.

Dayton’s budget proposal includes cuts to the Minneapolis Park Board’s funding because of a difference of opinion about the Southwest Light Rail Transit’s (SWLRT) route through the Kenilworth corridor.

In a press conference following the announcement of the budget proposal, Dayton said he believes the Park Board’s actions in the past few months are intended to prevent Southwest Light Rail Transit (SWLRT) from continuing.

“The Park Board is just now contracting an engineering study for another quarter million dollars to tell us what they could’ve told us a couple years ago, or even a decade ago,” Dayton said.

Dayton also said if he was in the federal government and was deciding what transit projects would receive funding, the debate over SWLRT would negatively impact his decision.

“The Southwest Line is racked with this friction and factionalism,” Dayton said. “It’s going to basically eliminate any chance for obtaining that competitive funding.”

High school substitute and testing coordinator Jami LaPray was involved with Safety in the Park, an organization formed to protect St. Louis Park from increased freight traffic earlier in the SWLRT project. She said she understands the governor’s actions and hopes the Park Board makes the right decision.

“I share the governor’s frustration with the Park Board,” LaPray said. “The Park Board has known since 2009 that SWLRT would be coming through and across the (corridor).”

LaPray also said she believes the Park Board is wasting money by creating additional roadblocks for SWLRT, including hiring another engineering firm to perform a new environmental study.

“The money that the Park Board is using to try to fight something they shouldn’t be fighting is wasting taxpayer dollars,” LaPray said. “So maybe money is the only thing the Park Board might listen to.”

The Park Board declined to comment on the issue, but Brad Bourn, a Park Board commissioner, had previously said he believed the Park Board is acting as protectors of park land against potential environmental contamination.

LaPray said there is some debate over whether the specific land being used by SWLRT is legally park land that the Park Board has a claim to.

According to Laura Baenen, communications manager for SWLRT, documents were provided to SWLRT that proved the legality of the Park Board’s claim to the land. Baenen declined to discuss the issue further.

Dayton said if the Park Board has these resources they are using to obstruct the progress of the light rail, they can handle his proposed funding cuts.

“In my view, if they have all this additional money to throw around for consultants, they don’t need all the state money that’s been allocated to them,” Dayton said.

It is unknown how much of Dayton’s proposal the Minnesota State Legislature will actually implement in the future, according to the governor’s office.