Detroit Free Press: Bids for Woodward rail line being reviewed

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Bids for Woodward rail line being reviewed
BY JOHN GALLAGHER • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • March 6, 2009


The proposed privately funded light-rail system on Woodward Avenue has a new name and an aggressive timetable as planners take the first practical steps to turn the idea into reality.

Formerly known as TRAIL for the Regional Area Initial Link, the system is now called M1-RAIL after the state designation for Woodward Avenue -- M1.

Paul Childs, a staffer at the nonprofit Downtown Detroit Partnership, now serves as project manager for M1-RAIL. He said Monday that bids for engineering design and pre-construction oversight were issued in late February and project staffers are now reviewing submissions from various firms.

Contracts could be awarded for those tasks as early as late March. Planners hope to break ground by fall and have the rail system running by late 2010 if all goes well.

"That's pretty ambitious," Childs admitted. "Everything has to align to make that happen." But he added, "We have a goal, and we think the goal is doable." ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009903060394