The final bids to build the first leg of California's bullet train track will be submitted Friday, but neither the public nor officials will see the estimated costs until after a proposal is selected.

Bullet train officials plan to keep the prices in sealed envelopes while they examine the bids for the first 29 miles of train track in the state's Central Valley. The move is meant to keep officials from being biased toward cheaper bids.

The rail authority has budgeted between $1.2 billion and $1.8 billion for the first part of the project, which will run from Madera to Fresno.

"This is a major milestone in moving high-speed rail forward and getting under way this summer," said California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Jeff Morales. "It is the industry standard in design-build projects to open bid prices following initial evaluations as not to skew the process. We are working hard to secure the best possible value for taxpayers."

But the process could further delay the project by two months. It has already been stalled since November 2012, and a groundbreaking is only months away.

"The process is supposed to be transparent," said state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier (D), chairman of the Senate transportation committee. "Once the bid is in, it's in the public domain, and the public needs to [be able to see] what the bids look like, especially on a project like this" (Mike Rosenberg, San Jose Mercury News, Jan. 16). -- JE