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The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has pushed back today's deadline for bids to design and build the first stretch of the high-speed rail line through the Fresno, Calif., area, according to an article posted Oct. 30 on The Fresno Bee's website.

Questions from five consortiums bidding on the project prompted the authority to set a new bid deadline of Jan. 18 for the 28-mile segment that will stretch from northeast of Madera to the south end of Fresno.

CHSRA previously had anticipated that contractors would submit their bids by August or September, with a contract awarded by year's end. That deadline was pushed back to Nov. 2 at the request of the contractors. Now, with the latest bid deadline set, CHSRA expects to award a contract in June 2013.

The Madera-Fresno segment is the first of five construction packages for project sections to be built from Madera to just north of Bakersfield.

The Federal Railroad Administration has committed more than $3 billion in stimulus and transportation funding for the initial construction of the statewide high-speed rail system. However, CHSRA must complete the work by Sept. 30, 2017, in order to meet a deadline imposed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.