Eric D. Lawrence

Detroit Free Press

Testing for Detroit's streetcar track will mean intermittent lane closures Tuesday along Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit.

A small motorized inspection car known as a speeder will drive along the tracks between Larned and Adams to check for obstructions and to make sure the streetcars will be able to manage turns on the route when the system is operational, according to information from M-1 Rail, the entity overseeing the project.

Despite its name, the car will travel slowly and will be flanked on both ends by safety vehicles, M-1 Rail said in a news release.

M-1 Rail Chief Operations Officer Paul Childs said in the release that more tests are planned.

“Speeder tests will be ongoing over the next few weeks. ... It’s one of nearly 1,000 tests we’ll be going through over the course of the project," Childs said.

The release noted that "courtesy notices will be placed on vehicles impeding track access to remind motorists to avoid parking in roadway lanes where the QLINE will operate."

Officials continue to shoot for early 2017 as the start of passenger operations on the line. M-1 Rail on Monday announced that the track installation is 83% complete, station construction 40% complete, traction power substations to provide power for the system is almost 40% complete, overhead catenary system is at 60%, with 85% of poles installed.

M-1 Rail also announced the installation of overhead catenary wiring along the route from Warren to Ferry and Congress to Larned. "While the lines are not yet active, the public is urged to treat the wire as live," M-1 Rail said.

The QLINE route runs approximately 3.3 miles, from Downtown to Detroit's North End neighborhood, where the Penske Tech Center is located.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.