Quote:
Originally Posted by hat
The issue is not going under 17th and Powell. Presumably, Tri-Met would use the existing bridge over Powell, then another over the UP tracks. From there it's anyone's guess since there is very little ROW. I don't know how much Tri-Met gave to the businesses they bulldozed, but this is inevitable for the first few blocks from 17th to around 22nd. But they also sell these blocks to construction companies afterward, so I'm not sure what that means monitarily.
It's also possible to have part of the alignment below grade. The Fred Meyer parking lot, when it hits 26th has a steep incline. Either boring a half-mile tunnel under this, or going through Creston at grade seems the only two choices. Underground means saving a lot of houses between 26th and around 30th. At grade means a nice bike path adjacent.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/101004589@N07/9657053996/
|
I'm not sure a train could make it across a bridge there, and I doubt the neighborhood (I live in that neighborhood) would be supportive of the number of houses that would be wiped about by the route in the linked graphic. It seems like a tunnel from ~SE 42nd to Milwaukie would be a more acceptable idea from why my neighbors have said, but that's really expensive.
Maybe it's better to build BRT for now, and dedicate ROW where it's available is a better long term option until a tunnel and LRT upgrade is justified?
It's similar to the Steel Bridge and Downtown Portland (and the Lloyd Center.) At some point everything from the Robertson Tunnel to the Banfield portion of the Blue line will need to be put underground to make it fit through downtown and allow more then 2 car trains.
It's probably better the Portland went with a surface route for the first run at it or we might have ended up like Buffalo's Metro Rail with a small rail stub that's awesome for the area it directly serves, but doesn't really go anywhere.
The Blue Line can be fixed through Downtown just like a HCT line could be fixed in the future even if it opens as BRT. Insisting it has to be LRT from day 1 seems like putting the cart before the horse. Powell should get higher capacity transit, but replacing the 9 with LRT would leave a lot of local stops without any service.
Other MAX lines have eliminated express routes along the same corridor, but there are no express routes already along Powell. Limited stop BRT or LRT wouldn't replace the 9 entirely, so it's tough to say that Powell is a perfect candidate for LRT as it's been deployed in other parts of the metro area.
As a side bonus it would take less infrastructure costs if, for example, the first BRT route went Powell/50th to Foster, then they wanted to add a Powell/50th to Gresham via Powell they could add extra lanes as ROW was available for each without needing to add overhead wire and rails.
LRT is great, but it's inability to share ROW with cars and trucks helps make BRT seem like a plausible phase 1 option for a few corridors around the region. As a major state highway removing lanes doesn't seem like a practical idea either.
Last time I took the 9 it was Eastbound at about 5:15 pm from SE Milwaukie to SE 39th. The biggest delay by far was the number of stops, not sitting in traffic. At every stop there were people fumbling with change to pay for a ticket, waits while people fought the crowding to get to the exit, etc. It was standing room only as well.
Frequent buses with less frequent stops and off bus ticketing would be a huge improvement on the corridor.