Woodward rail line gets M1-RAIL name and bidding begins

Woodward rail line gets a new name in M1-RAIL and bidding begins on contracts. The hope is that by late 2010 it will be up and running.Excerpt: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.”Read the entire article here.