Four teams are bidding for the design and build contract of 18.5 mile North Metro line from downtown's Denver Union Station to State Highway 7 north of Denver, according to the Regional Transportation District (RTD).

The four competing teams are:

• A joint venture of Bechtel Corp. and Herzog Contracting Corp.
• A team led by Graham Contracting Ltd., which submitted an "unsolicited proposal" to RTD in February, and including Balfour Beatty Inc.
• North Metro Transit Solutions, a joint venture of Kiewit Corp., which is building Denver Union Station for FasTracks and the I-225 rail line, and Stacy and Witbeck Inc.
• URS Energy and Construction Inc.

RTD issued a request for proposals (RFP) on June 28 after determining that an unsolicited proposal from Canada's Graham Contracting Ltd. sent to RTD in February had merit.

RTD said a committee will review the four proposals and recommend the most qualified bidder to RTD's board of directors at the Nov. 5 meeting of the FasTracks Monitoring Committee.

The board is expected to make a final award at its Nov. 26 meeting.

RTD said in June that the latest cost estimate to build the entire line is $909 million.