Construction Contract Procurement

The Blue Line Extension Project is working to ensure contractors who compete for project contracts have the opportunity to propose their best work that provides the best value.

Following industry outreach and feedback outreach, project leads Metropolitan Council and Hennepin County have decided the project will be delivered through multiple contract packages, with major construction included in a single package of civil, track, systems, and stations. Metropolitan Council will use a Design-Bid-Build Best Value contract procurement method to deliver the major construction package.
 
With this approach to engineering and procurement, contract awards will consider:

• Quality
• Contractor qualifications
• Experience
• Strategic approach
• Price

Previous Light Rail projects in the Twin Cities have used a low-bid procurement method, which awards construction contracts based solely on the lowest cost proposal.
 

Next steps

The Blue Line Extension team is working to develop construction contract procurement documents for solicitation in 2026.