HDR, Inc. has been hired to revive a streetcar plan for Grand Rapids, Mich., using a six-year-old study as a baseline for the new effort.
Omaha-based HDR has been awarded a contract worth roughly $294,000 to determine the capital and operating costs of a streetcar line, originally envisioned as a 3-mile route.
"We're going to build on that (2008 study)," John Logie, a former Grand Rapids mayor who is chairman of an advisory committee for the project, told local media. "We think the timing is right. The economy is coming back."
If built, the streetcar line would be the first such modern introduction of the mode in Michigan.
HDR, Inc. is no stranger to streetcar projects, having overseen a feasibility study for Atlanta's initial streetcar line, scheduled to open this year. HDR also landed a $3.6 million contract for the final design of the main components of the streetcar line in Kansas City, Mo., now under construction.