Quote:
Originally Posted by davehogan
There's plenty of safety improvements that could be made without adding MAX. Powell is a major state highway also, whereas Interstate parallels a major state highway (I-5) by a few blocks. They're really not very similar at all.
I don't think that reducing Powell to one lane is going to get much support, especially from the neighborhoods around it. Also I'm not sure where the extra 20+ feet of ROW that MAX would need would be something the neighborhoods would be okay with.
If a MAX line is going to be built east-west through SE then Holgate is probably the better option. It's already got a fairly wide ROW versus the number of lanes except from SE 24th to SE 28th, it could connect to the Orange line at SE 17th and Holgate, but would need to either replace or build a new viaduct to get over Brooklyn yard.
You'd lose a few industrial buildings and a storage place, but Portland seems to prefer that over losing houses. East of 28th you'd lose some on street parking and some houses might lose their front yards, and near I-205 it might be a little tricky, but it seems like it would be a lot easier than Powell.
As another option it could run across Holgate and cut up to Powell somewhere around 50th where the additional ROW from the Mt Hood Freeway starts to show up.
|
I think Holgate would be a good route, but I don't think it would be a good route for the MAX. Once you go past 28th, it becomes questionable if you can fit MAX tracks for each direction and two lanes of traffic further east than 28th. Though Holgate could definitely handle a streetcar line, which is something I think Portland should utilize more as a transportation tool rather than a development tool.