[NJD]

Milwaukie endorses light-rail line
Commissioners raise concerns about downtown terminus; say they want Park Avenue extension

By Matthew Graham

The Clackamas Review, Jul 15, 2008,

The Milwaukie City Council Tuesday night endorsed the Tillamook alignment for the Portland to Milwaukie light-rail line, supporting the route that cuts behind the city’s north industrial sector, through downtown, and extends to Park Avenue. Council endorsed a single downtown Milwaukie stop at Lake Road.

The 4-1 vote of support mirrored the option already endorsed by both the project steering committee and the Oregon City City Commission.

The proposed 6.5-mile line would run from Southwest Jackson Street in downtown Portland south to Portland State University and the South Waterfront district, would cross the Willamette River near Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and travel south through parallel to Highway 99E/McLoughlin Boulevard.

At the northern edge of Milwaukie's north industrial area it would follow the heavy rail tracks of the Tillamook branch behind the industrial area, cutting through downtown Milwaukie and extending to Park Avenue in Oak Grove.

The project, which has been in the works for more than a decade, is expected to cost around $1.4 billion, with 60 percent coming from the federal government and $250 million from the state. Milwaukie has tentatively been asked to contribute $5 million, but Metro will continue looking for funding sources and solidifying overall cost estimates once it adopts the plan.

The city did not support the full project report pushed forward by the steering committee. Commissioners took issue with a clause in that report stating that if funding levels didn’t allow them to reach Park Place, the line would terminate at Lake Road in downtown Milwaukie.

Councilors Greg Chaimov and Susan Stone said they felt that would be a betrayal of much of what they’d heard from constituents who said they didn’t want the line to end downtown, which requires three tracks for a turnaround, a much larger impact than a single station.

Still, city and TriMet staff said the endorsement of the line gave the project enough momentum to keep pushing forward.

“The message should be council supports the project moving ahead,” said David Unsworth, TriMet’s project development manager.

He said the vote “absolutely” gives Metro and TriMet the momentum they need to push forward and to go out for funding for the project.

“This is a once in a century opportunity for Milwaukie and Milwaukie gets that,” said Kenny Asher, Milwaukie’s community development director. “With this action I have no doubt that the Metro council is going to push this on to the [Federal Transit Administration].”
Lone dissenting vote

The vote was not a final decision on light-rail line, it was merely an advisory vote for Milwaukie to tell Metro its preferences for and support of the project. Metro will make the final decision on whether the line will be built on July 24.

The dissenting vote came from Commissioner Susan Stone, who has argued that city-wide votes on light rail in the past had failed, so she felt a yes vote would betray her constituents; that such a large expenditure of transportation dollars should go to a public vote; that the rail would come through neighborhoods in defiance of a list of 14 points the community said it wanted if light-rail came through; and that the city would be better served by a streetcar system.

Some residents at the meeting echoed her concerns, saying the rail would come through neighborhoods and pass within a block of three schools and that other alignments or transit options ought to be studied.

But Mayor Jim Bernard and other commissioners have discussed the benefits of the rail. Bernard said it would be an economic boon and would help the city attract new businesses and leverage money to continue its redevelopment of downtown.

A large number of community members, including residents and representatives from the north industrial area, Dark Horse Comics and more, voiced strong support for the Tillamook alignment.

The final resolution adopted by council also contained a caveat highlighting concerns for schools, neighborhoods, parks and businesses and making a point that means of mitigating those concerns should be addressed in the Final Environmental Impact Statement.