TriMet/Metro Southwest Corridor Planning (Portland to Bridgeport Village)

[cityscapes]

Originally Posted by dabom

someday fast trains to other cities will have to happen because gas is running out. a train to central and southern oregon would be good to have

You are commenting in a thread titled, "TriMet/Metro Southwest Corridor Planning (Portland to Tigard/King City)". In case you didn't know TriMet is short for Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, the three counties being Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington all located in Northwestern Oregon. Central and Southern Oregon are outside the TriMet's service district boundaries.

Stay on topic.

Some of us check these threads for news and other valuable information like links to public outreach being conducted by Metro. It's frustrating to routinely view this thread when there's a new post and be disappointed by post after post of poorly worded fantasies.

[dubu]

theres usually off topic chat. but i stopped comming here because theres no transportation news im excited about. this line isnt going down i5 anymore. waist of money.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by Derek

I can't wait for these billion dollar rail systems to be built to southern Oregon so 6 people can ride it everyday.

Wow, that's liberal of you, you think those 6 people will ride it everyday?

[Derek]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Wow, that's liberal of you, you think those 6 people will ride it everyday?

Sorry, I meant every week...

[65MAX]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Survey about SW Corridor. If you think the project should be light rail instead of BRT (hint) now is the time to tell them. A decision is being made on February 29th.

Back on topic.....

Has everybody done the survey above? There are only a couple more weeks to give your input on which mode ....(*cough* light rail *cough*) ... would best serve the SW Corridor. Vote early, vote often.

I filled it out in 5 minutes... very easy.... from my laptop, then from my phone. This is probably the most important decision Metro will make this decade, so they'd better get it right.

[maccoinnich]

Does anyone know if a decision was made on LRT vs BRT? The decision was meant to be made on February 29th, but I can't find anything on Metro's site about whether that happened, and if so what the decision was.

[babs]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Does anyone know if a decision was made on LRT vs BRT? The decision was meant to be made on February 29th, but I can't find anything on Metro's site about whether that happened, and if so what the decision was.

It's been pushed back to a future unspecified date:
http://portlandtribune.com/ttt/89-news/2...unnel-max-brt-decision-pushed-back-again

And I'll add my own comment that without a tunnel and station under OHSU, we're committing one of the biggest blunders in local transportation history.

[maccoinnich]

I agree. It's especially frustrating when SW Corrirdor is compared to University Link in Seattle, which opens in a couple weeks. By building an underground system it will be possible to travel from Downtown Seattle to the University of Washington in 8 minutes, a journey that currently takes 12-26 minutes by car (depending on traffic).

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

I agree. It's especially frustrating when SW Corrirdor is compared to University Link in Seattle, which opens in a couple weeks. By building an underground system it will be possible to travel from Downtown Seattle to the University of Washington in 8 minutes, a journey that currently takes 12-26 minutes by car (depending on traffic).

I have to agree, though I have supported a tunnel all along, we have to look at the ULink as to what we should be doing for OHSU and Hillsdale, and possibly even PCC. Having a direct link via light rail to downtown like that would be a huge improvement to that corridor.

[bvpcvm]

It's even more infuriating given that one of their excuses for dropping the OHSU tunnel was that construction would bother neighbors and endanger businesses. I mean, any construction is going to cause temporary delays. But we're talking an investment for the next hundred years.

[cailes]

It really bothers me that there is a bias when it comes to projects like this "disturbing businesses and residents"

Because traffic jams, paving projects and road widenings don't??

[cityscapes]

The planning process for this project has been really frustrating to watch. I even talked with people at TriMet and Metro and all they care about is the bottom line and the possibility of funding to get the line built. Obviously feasibility is important because that determines whether it gets built or not, but it seems like we've forgotten our own land use goals and being a visionary forward thinking city in exchange with focusing on the bottom line.

As soon as you get out of downtown there are issues with this project. I feel like they're using the light rail as a tool to fix the problematic streets in Lair Hill. Light rail might help but it's not the only solution. There needs to be a separate project to fix the bad decisions that carved up the neighborhood with big roads that looks at the issues in a holistic way.

The station at OHSU is a concern for me because even with escalators that is going to add a lot of time for people to get up on the hill who then have to continue to the building they're going to which isn't easy since that campus is so disjointed because of the terrain. A direct stop under OHSU makes more sense to me in terms of a long term investment in our transport infrastructure. It seems like a cop out to say that digging will effect sensitive medical equipment and disturb the hospital. Subways have been built on far more difficult terrain in more intensely developed areas. I'm not buying that argument at all.

There are missed opportunities for TOD all along Barbur, Hillsdale, and Multnomah Village.
I'm also worried about the impacts to traffic and the hillside / tree cover as they will inevitably need to widen and stabilize slopes along the current alignment of Barbur through inner SW to fit light rail.

The way the route snakes through Tigard seems wasteful too. I get the need to serve Downtown Tigard and the Tigard Triangle but I think they could just skip the Tigard Triangle because its surrounded by limited access freeways and a state highway. Even with transit, that area is never going to become a walkable urban hub of any sort. They should save the future passengers time and bypass the area and go straight to Tigard TC.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by cityscapes

The planning process for this project has been really frustrating to watch. I even talked with people at TriMet and Metro and all they care about is the bottom line and the possibility of funding to get the line built. Obviously feasibility is important because that determines whether it gets built or not, but it seems like we've forgotten our own land use goals and being a visionary forward thinking city in exchange with focusing on the bottom line.

As soon as you get out of downtown there are issues with this project. I feel like they're using the light rail as a tool to fix the problematic streets in Lair Hill. Light rail might help but it's not the only solution. There needs to be a separate project to fix the bad decisions that carved up the neighborhood with big roads that looks at the issues in a holistic way.

The station at OHSU is a concern for me because even with escalators that is going to add a lot of time for people to get up on the hill who then have to continue to the building they're going to which isn't easy since that campus is so disjointed because of the terrain. A direct stop under OHSU makes more sense to me in terms of a long term investment in our transport infrastructure. It seems like a cop out to say that digging will effect sensitive medical equipment and disturb the hospital. Subways have been built on far more difficult terrain in more intensely developed areas. I'm not buying that argument at all.

There are missed opportunities for TOD all along Barbur, Hillsdale, and Multnomah Village.
I'm also worried about the impacts to traffic and the hillside / tree cover as they will inevitably need to widen and stabilize slopes along the current alignment of Barbur through inner SW to fit light rail.

The way the route snakes through Tigard seems wasteful too. I get the need to serve Downtown Tigard and the Tigard Triangle but I think they could just skip the Tigard Triangle because its surrounded by limited access freeways and a state highway. Even with transit, that area is never going to become a walkable urban hub of any sort. They should save the future passengers time and bypass the area and go straight to Tigard TC.

To be fair, the people in Multnomah Village have been flipping their 🞵🞵🞵🞵 over a 4 story apartment building. I don't think the people there actually see their neighborhood as a viable urban district that is primed for TOD and a light rail line. Which is funny in a sad kind of way because that district is perfectly structured to be a fantastic little urban TOD district.

[dubu]

if we had the money it would be better to have i5 in a tunnel (a big tunnel with cars going one way on the top and the opposite way one the bottom) then where i 5 use to be have four tracks wide with two of the tracks for commuter trains and the oter two for light rail.

it would still be a three lane freeway with a tunnel so widen 99w to three lanes because that road needs another lane.

[Derek]

So why not just make a smaller tunnel just for light rail instead of making a larger tunnel for an interstate? Where would this new commuter rail go that the light rail wouldn't?

[dubu]

Anywhere far for commuter rail and light rail anywhere close like the PC tc and Tigard tc and Beaverton tc

Beaverton and Pcc would be the better two. It would be over kill having more then two light rail lines sharing the same tracks

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by Derek

So why not just make a smaller tunnel just for light rail instead of making a larger tunnel for an interstate? Where would this new commuter rail go that the light rail wouldn't?

I would like to see an I-5 commuter rail put in, I actually would prefer this connecting to SW Washington over light rail due to it being able to offer faster service with limited stops and have it stop a few places on the Washington side, have it stop downtown, then have it run down to downtown Salem with a few stops in between.

Have the streetcar function for the city of Portland, have light rail to function for the metro, and have a commuter rail function for the region. (Plus a commuter rail would be a great way to push for that subway tunnel under downtown that some people really want.)

[dubu]

there needs to be light rail, a bike path and commuter rail along i5. then have big buildings at stops. one light rail ling isnt going to make the west side be a nice area, probably make it worse

[bvpcvm]

Metro planners recommend light rail, no PCC Sylvania tunnel for SW Corridor transit project

[65MAX]

Finally, some common sense.