[65MAX]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

There's an enormous difference between saying it needs to happen eventually, and anyone in any position of authority at Trimet or Metro discussing how to fund it and plan it. Is there any evidence that anyone has actually discussed doing it? Has there been even one - ONE - serious discussion at Trimet that included talk of funding it? Of course not. C'mon now. Yeah, this is a neat topic, but there's a reason it's not even under consideration.

I think we'll see the 405 or even I5 in inner SE buried first. God, I wish we could bury I5. Riverside SE could become an amazing and vibrant neighborhood.

Burying I-5 (basically an 8-lane subway for cars) would be orders of magnitude MUCH MUCH more expensive than building a subway for MAX through downtown. So you're advocating something that would not even add capacity to the existing freeway system, but you don't see the logic in building infrastructure that triples or quadruples the capacity of our existing mass transit system? At a much smaller price tag no less?

You do realize that we could build a more functional, comprehensive and accessible mass transit sytem (including subways, plural) that would make I-5 obselete for the same or less money than burying I-5 on the east bank and under the Willamette? Wouldn't that be a much better way of getting an amazing and vibrant new East Waterfront district (including subway access) than simply trying to hide an ugly freeway without removing it altogether?

Originally Posted by 2oh1

... but I'm really surprised by the lack of common sense in this thread. Sure, it's a really neat idea, but not at the expense of other transit priorities. There are so many transit needs that come higher on the priority list.

You just described your own proposal to bury I-5. Sure, it's a neat idea, but at what cost? Like I said, you could build several new MAX corridors, a couple of MAX subways and tons more buses and trains to increase service systemwide for the same or less money than a Big Dig for I-5.