PB preparing EIS for Detroit light rail system

The Detroit Department of Transportation has awarded a contract to Parsons Brinckerhoff for preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement for a new light rail transit (LRT) system. The approximately $400-million project is a proposed 9.3-mile LRT system along Woodward Avenue from downtown Detroit to 8-Mile Road and is expected to be operating by 2016.  

The project is being
structured as an innovative public-private partnership, with a private group,
M1 Rail, providing funding and participating in the development of a portion of
the LRT system.

Under its contract, PB will
manage the EIS process, which includes public input on the environmental
impacts in evaluation of the alternatives, along with the assembly of the final
study and submission to the Federal Transit Administration. PB has already
completed socio-economic, traffic and noise studies, and preliminary cultural
resources investigations for the project. Completion of the EIS marked by the
FTA Record of Decision is slated for July 2011.