Portland - Milwaukie Light Rail (PMLR) | Completed

[maccoinnich]

Why Portland Is Building a Multi-Modal Bridge That Bans Cars

The first of its kind in the U.S., the Tilikum Crossing will reflect the city's enduring transit culture.

BRIAN LIBBY



PORTLAND, Oregon—It's an early-summer morning at the construction site for Portland's first new bridge in a generation, the Tilikum Crossing, and Dan Blocher is feeling good about its progress. Completion is still a year away, but since the two ends of the bridge were connected in the middle several weeks ago, public response in self-described Bridgetown (when it's not, say, the Rose City, Stumptown or Rip City) has been positive.

"Most people can sort of viscerally recognize an inherent beauty when the bridge is properly designed for its need," says Blocher, executive director of capitol projects for TriMet, the city's transit agency. "I think you know when you've got it right when the completed product just seems to fit, just like it belongs there. And we feel very good about the feedback we're getting on this bridge now that you can see what it's going to look like."

As we stand along the banks of the Willamette River, where workers are toiling both above us on the recently completed deck and below in small boats where the footings meet the water, Blocher points to a number of the bridge's unique design features. The H-shaped towers are smaller than those of most cable-stay bridges, for example. That's because Tilikum threads single cables up through the towers and down again to the deck, rather than using two sets of cables connected separately to the tower. The bike and pedestrian paths on either side also jut out in the middle, he says, to reduce wind drag. The angle of the white cables is meant to recall the triangular form of Mount Hood, standing tall in the distance and visible from the bridge.

...continues at Citylab.

[maccoinnich]

TriMet tests clearances for MAX Orange Line, pulls train over Tilikum Crossing



TriMet officials are running a MAX train over the Tilikum Crossing Monday morning, from Southwest Third Avenue and Lincoln Street to Southeast 12th Avenue and Clinton Street.
It's all part of the run-up to the opening of the $1.5 billion Orange Line -- the 7.3 mile light-rail line from Portland to Milwaukie, scheduled to open September 2015.

Construction manager Gary Hopkins said it will be the first time a MAX train will cross Portland's newest bridge.

The train will be pulled by a diesel truck that is equipped to travel at a walking pace.

...continues at the Oregonian. Pictures at PMLR project twitter feed.

[maccoinnich]

• Video Link

[maccoinnich]

Navigational and aesthetic lighting being added to Tilikum Crossing

Posted in TriMet News
August 28, 2014 Mary Fetsch
Aviation lighting atop bridge towers will flash red 24/7

TriMet is adding navigational and aesthetic lighting to the Tilikum Crossing, Bridge of the People.

For river users, navigational lighting is being installed that will mark the channel with lights at three points on the bridge deck. Lights are also being placed on the in-water pier caps at the base of the tower pylons.

Aesthetic lighting is being installed on the bridge as part of the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project’s Public Art Program. After installation is complete in September, the lights will be tested over a few days in late September and early October. The aesthetic lighting will be directed at the 20 bridge cables, the four tower pylons above and below the deck, and the two landside abutments. The lighting translates the natural conditions of the Willamette River into subtle color and motion effects. Based on data streamed from a U.S. Geological Service monitor, the lighting will change seasonally and throughout the day in relation to river speed, river height and water temperature. Once the aesthetic lighting installation and testing is complete, it will be turned off until September 2015. The 1.5 percent for art program covers only the portion of the construction that directly benefits the public, and totals $3 million for the entire project.

...continues at the TriMet website.

[maccoinnich]

TriMet's Dan Blocher on planning and building Tilikum Crossing


Tilikum Crossing under construction (photo by Brian Libby)

BY BRIAN LIBBY


A couple weeks ago, I wrote an article for CityLab on Portland's new bridge, Tilikum Crossing, which is already gaining attention nationally and internationally for being the first multi-modal bridge in the United States that will be off-limits to private automobiles. As part of that article, I interviewed TriMet executive director of capital projects Dan Blocher about the process; I've decided to share the interview here in its entirety.

...continues at Portland Architecture.

[maccoinnich]

• Video Link

[maccoinnich]

Photos: Your First Look at Tilikum Crossing... From Tilikum Crossing
Setting foot on the new pedestrian, bike and transit bridge.



On Wednesday, October 1, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx took a tour of the car-proof Tilikum Crossing bridge connecting OMSI to the South Waterfront—along with a small coterie of media.

The $134.6 million, wonderfully named bridge isn’t scheduled to open officially until September 12, 2015 (though there will be a soft opening of sorts on August 9 that coincides with Providence Bridge Pedal’s 20th anniversary). Planners hope the bridge will connect OHSU students to cheaper rent on the east side, scads of westside food tourists to restaurant-dense Division Street, and would-be toe-dippers to riverfront property along now-desolate Zidell Yards. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry hopes the bridge will bring a real-estate boom to the Central Eastside. The bridge will certainly carry the new Orange Line MAX, connecting downtown Portland to... downtown Milwaukie.

...continues at the Willamette Week.

[maccoinnich]

• Video Link

[maccoinnich]

TriMet will test aesthetic 'river mood lighting' on Portland's Tilikum Crossing this week



The last time TriMet experimented with lighting on the soon-to-open Tilikum Crossing, residents of Portland's Southwest Waterfront were hit with a blinding aircraft-warning strobe atop one of the towers.

The transit agency promises that the next lighting test on the Willamette River bridge, scheduled for Thursday and Friday nights, will be far more pleasant.

In fact, the glow of the 178 LED lights on Tilikum Crossing should be downright artful, officials promise.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[NJD]

The Ti... transit bridge looks good with the lighting. Something actually colorful in Portland!

[dubu]

i saw a video on youtube of it, nice

[maccoinnich]

This looks amazing. Worth clicking through for the video, which I can't embed here.

Watch Tilikum Crossing light up the Portland night (video)

It was Friday Night Lights for transportation geeks: The Tilikum Crossing came to life against Portland's rain-blurred skyline.

TriMet crews stayed up for the second night in a row to test what will become the city's largest public art display -- 178 LED lights programmed to translate the Willamette River's natural conditions into a slow metamorphosis of changing colors on Portland's newest bridge.

The calibration started shortly before 8 p.m., creating a buzz on the Portland waterfront. On the east bank of the river near the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, people holding up cameras gathered to watch the Tilikum lights blanket the car-less bridge's 80 cables and four tower pylons.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[maccoinnich]

TriMet video of the bridge lights:

• Video Link

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On a different note, does anyone know what route will the 9 and 17 buses take between the Tilikum Crossing and SE Powell?

[65MAX]

That's beautiful!

Kinda reminds me of the aluminum X-mas tree with the rotating color wheel that we had when I was a kid.

[2oh1]

Very nice indeed. That's going to look really neat while traveling across after dark.

[PDXDENSITY]

I'm proud of what my city is doing and I am excited about what ripples of development this will cause.

[davehogan]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

On a different note, does anyone know what route will the 9 and 17 buses take between the Tilikum Crossing and SE Powell?

Eastbound I think is going to be Water/4th Ave to Division Place, then the new busway from SE 9th to SE 11th, then SE 11th/Milwaukie Ave to Powell.

Westbound isn't as clear, I think it'll be Powell to SE 9th to Division Place, but that's just a guess from walking the area a lot.

[maccoinnich]

This is the reply I got from PMLR on facebook:

Eastbound from Tilikum Crossing, bus lines 9 and 17 would travel along the shared transitway and go south on SE 7th Avenue, east on SE Division Place then south on SE Milwaukie Avenue to SE Powell Boulevard. Westbound, bus lines 9 and 17 would travel from SE Powell Boulevard, turning north on SE 9th Avenue, west on SE Division Street, and then north on SE 7th Avenue to connect to the shared transitway, and Tilikum Crossing.

Looking at Google Maps satellite imagery, it looks like there's concrete track until SE 7th, and then ballasted track after that. I assume this is so buses can share the route with trains, and buses never have to travel on SE Water/4th or Caruthers. That's great if so, because it minimizes the number of conflicts between cyclists and buses.

[davehogan]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

This is the reply I got from PMLR on facebook:



Looking at Google Maps satellite imagery, it looks like there's concrete track until SE 7th, and then ballasted track after that. I assume this is so buses can share the route with trains, and buses never have to travel on SE Water/4th or Caruthers. That's great if so, because it minimizes the number of conflicts between cyclists and buses.

Ah, nice. It was tough to tell from the maps posted and just walking through there.

See also: PMLR Bus Changes at TriMet. This is the latest version just released last week I think.

[maccoinnich]

October construction photos are up on flickr.