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  #3561  
Old Posted Nov 5, 2020, 2:02 AM
CorbinWarrick CorbinWarrick is offline
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RIP

https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/...-projects.html

Voters reject Metro’s payroll tax to fund billions in transportation projects
Looks like pdx residents are tired of bankrolling Max projects and etc
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  #3562  
Old Posted Nov 5, 2020, 7:08 PM
AdamNorthwest AdamNorthwest is offline
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Does anyone know where we go from here? A revised measure in 2022? What happens to the SW Corridor now?
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  #3563  
Old Posted Nov 5, 2020, 8:27 PM
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Does anyone know where we go from here? A revised measure in 2022? What happens to the SW Corridor now?
They're going to recap and learn why it failed and rethink how to come back with another measure, my thoughts are probably in 2021...if they follow the PPS model when their first measure failed in 2011.

I don't think this ends the SW Corridor, nor do I believe it was a referendum on that project. Politics around the funding mechanism and losing business support that then vocally opposed THIS measure seemed to tip the scales.
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  #3564  
Old Posted Nov 5, 2020, 8:49 PM
RED_PDXer RED_PDXer is offline
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I'm not so sure the SWC project will live another day. It was always a tough corridor and never could live within the budget the region could afford. There was also a downtown light rail tunnel which would have been studied using funds from the failed bond measure. That seemed to have more interest and support than funding construction of a new line into Tigard. It's hard to press for funding transit projects in the middle of a pandemic though when future commuting patterns are really uncertain.

I can imagine some of those rapid bus projects moving forward on a corridor here or there. We'll see how well Division's rapid bus project turns out.
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  #3565  
Old Posted Nov 5, 2020, 9:09 PM
CorbinWarrick CorbinWarrick is offline
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I think it’s a wrap for the SWC project. The pandemic has allowed businesses and companies to see how successful working from home is and I don’t think voters in Portland can stomach paying for a route that a lot of workers in the burbs would use.


The simple fact is Covid has accelerated WFH by decades in a few months. I really don’t know how much demand there will be to commute from far SW to downtown in the future, and I’m not sure anyone does. But I think it makes sense to see how work and travel patterns are changed by this time we’re in
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  #3566  
Old Posted Nov 6, 2020, 1:05 AM
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Originally Posted by CorbinWarrick View Post
I think it’s a wrap for the SWC project. The pandemic has allowed businesses and companies to see how successful working from home is and I don’t think voters in Portland can stomach paying for a route that a lot of workers in the burbs would use.


The simple fact is Covid has accelerated WFH by decades in a few months. I really don’t know how much demand there will be to commute from far SW to downtown in the future, and I’m not sure anyone does. But I think it makes sense to see how work and travel patterns are changed by this time we’re in
I'm not convinced there is a sea-change afoot in how humans work. I'm in the design industry and WFH sucks for a whole host of reasons. Having team scrums over tracing paper tops the list for me, though. We are social animals, and WFH does nothing to feed that need.

I'd also point out that the few times I've had to travel north into the city on I-5 in the late afternoon/early evening there is still heavy traffic in the Terwilliger Curves area. That will only get worse as restrictions (eventually?) get lifted.

I don't see a major shift to folks working from home on a full-time basis. It's certainly going to be more common moving forward, but traffic will still suck. Eventually getting light rail to Tigard would be a great move by the region, IMO.

Also: equity.
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  #3567  
Old Posted Nov 6, 2020, 9:36 AM
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Originally Posted by CorbinWarrick View Post
I think it’s a wrap for the SWC project. The pandemic has allowed businesses and companies to see how successful working from home is and I don’t think voters in Portland can stomach paying for a route that a lot of workers in the burbs would use.


The simple fact is Covid has accelerated WFH by decades in a few months. I really don’t know how much demand there will be to commute from far SW to downtown in the future, and I’m not sure anyone does. But I think it makes sense to see how work and travel patterns are changed by this time we’re in
It's way too soon to make this call, these projects all need to happen, so they will look at various ways to redo this measure and make it more appealing. I could see it getting passed in the near future, it might just need to be worded better.

The traffic from the SW corridor will only get worse, the virus isn't going to last forever and we have already seen the metro start to get back to normal when it comes to working. In a few years, there is going to be a serious call for something to happen in the SW corridor and this light rail like will definitely be needed.
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  #3568  
Old Posted Nov 18, 2020, 4:29 PM
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Originally Posted by urbanlife View Post
It's way too soon to make this call, these projects all need to happen, so they will look at various ways to redo this measure and make it more appealing. I could see it getting passed in the near future, it might just need to be worded better.

The traffic from the SW corridor will only get worse, the virus isn't going to last forever and we have already seen the metro start to get back to normal when it comes to working. In a few years, there is going to be a serious call for something to happen in the SW corridor and this light rail like will definitely be needed.
Man, Portland voters can be funny when it comes to mass transit projects.
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  #3569  
Old Posted Nov 23, 2020, 9:43 AM
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Man, Portland voters can be funny when it comes to mass transit projects.
Yeah, it didn't help that it also required all three counties to vote on it. Though the only reason this bill was being put forward like this was because of the current administration not really wanting to invest in transit. Hopefully with Biden in office, we will see a drastic shift in that and Metro and Trimet can get more federal funding to help with the SW line and studying a tunnel through downtown.

This is mostly just a roadblock that we will get around. I am personally annoyed because there was some great safety improvements that were in the bill that would have really benefitted pedestrians outside of the city.
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  #3570  
Old Posted Nov 23, 2020, 8:42 PM
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Originally Posted by urbanlife View Post
Yeah, it didn't help that it also required all three counties to vote on it. Though the only reason this bill was being put forward like this was because of the current administration not really wanting to invest in transit. Hopefully with Biden in office, we will see a drastic shift in that and Metro and Trimet can get more federal funding to help with the SW line and studying a tunnel through downtown.

This is mostly just a roadblock that we will get around. I am personally annoyed because there was some great safety improvements that were in the bill that would have really benefitted pedestrians outside of the city.
Agree, and don't forget too it was competing with measures to fund libraries, parks, and schools, which rarely if ever fail to pass in recent times. Considering the pandemic and accompanying economic uncertainty, if there was one public funding measure that was going to be deferred, it was public transit.
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  #3571  
Old Posted Mar 12, 2021, 6:25 PM
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Cities poised to plan a carfree connection between Forest Grove and Hillsboro
Posted by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on March 12th, 2021 at 9:35 am



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A regional Council Creek Corridor Working Group that includes Metro, the Oregon Department of Transportation, TriMet, Washington County and the cities of Hillsboro, Cornelius and Forest Grove was established in 2020, “to help shepherd the shared community vision.” That vision will include not only a new path but also, “a possible extension of light rail or other form of innovative high capacity transit from Hillsboro to downtown Forest Grove,” according to a working group document.
Forest Grove leaders first proposed extending MAX using this alignment in 2006. P&W finally abandoned the segment in 2019. Would absolutely love for an extension of the Blue Line to Forest Grove. So many homes being built out there plus there's Pacific University.
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  #3572  
Old Posted Mar 13, 2021, 2:23 PM
RED_PDXer RED_PDXer is offline
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Forest Grove leaders first proposed extending MAX using this alignment in 2006. P&W finally abandoned the segment in 2019. Would absolutely love for an extension of the Blue Line to Forest Grove. So many homes being built out there plus there's Pacific University.
Totally. There's so little funding to go around for light rail projects these days, but this would be a fairly inexpensive extension because there's so much right-of-way and very little grading.
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  #3573  
Old Posted Mar 13, 2021, 7:56 PM
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Could cost as little as $300 mil and take a short as 24 months to complete.

Light rail to Forest Grove? Oregon lawmaker says 'Why not?'
Wade Evanson March 09 2021

Quote:
For more than 15 years now, state Sen. Chuck Riley has been pushing for an extension of the Metro area's regional light rail system beyond Hillsboro to Cornelius and Forest Grove.

Why?

When asked that same question during a conversation with the District 15 Democratic representative this past Monday, Feb. 8, the veteran legislator responded rather simply: "Why not?"

Riley introduced Senate Bill 308, which directs TriMet to study the feasibility of extending the light rail system westward to Forest Grove, on Jan. 11.

...
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  #3574  
Old Posted Mar 15, 2021, 6:38 AM
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Originally Posted by RED_PDXer View Post
Totally. There's so little funding to go around for light rail projects these days, but this would be a fairly inexpensive extension because there's so much right-of-way and very little grading.
I wouldn't be surprised if that changed in the near future with President Biden pushing for improving infrastructure and being a huge supporter of rail.
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  #3575  
Old Posted Mar 15, 2021, 5:35 PM
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I wouldn't be surprised if that changed in the near future with President Biden pushing for improving infrastructure and being a huge supporter of rail.
Our rail infrastructure is lacking so much that I wouldn't be surprised if he focuses on more regional stuff, which could potentially move the Cascadia High Speed Rail forward.
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  #3576  
Old Posted Mar 16, 2021, 7:36 AM
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Our rail infrastructure is lacking so much that I wouldn't be surprised if he focuses on more regional stuff, which could potentially move the Cascadia High Speed Rail forward.
I am definitely hopeful that the CascadiaHSR will happen with any regional investing in rail. I would imagine that a HSR line would also open up the option for the Portland metro and Willamette Valley to look at a commuter rail system for Portland.
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  #3577  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2021, 3:34 PM
MNTimberjack MNTimberjack is offline
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My largest concern is are we reaching a point where light rail isn't the best mode for this connection? A trip into Portland is going to take a long time on Light Rail. We trying to make light rail tackle multiple issues without excelling at any one of them. It may be time to start looking at what it would take to build out a regional rail network that connects more far flung nodes like Forest Grove, Newburg, and Woodburn.
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  #3578  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2021, 6:00 PM
CorbinWarrick CorbinWarrick is offline
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Originally Posted by MNTimberjack View Post
My largest concern is are we reaching a point where light rail isn't the best mode for this connection? A trip into Portland is going to take a long time on Light Rail. We trying to make light rail tackle multiple issues without excelling at any one of them. It may be time to start looking at what it would take to build out a regional rail network that connects more far flung nodes like Forest Grove, Newburg, and Woodburn.
It’s light rail fatigue in this city right now. The max has been expanded A LOT since 1998. I think the majority of residents are just over it. For now
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  #3579  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2021, 6:20 PM
MNTimberjack MNTimberjack is offline
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Originally Posted by CorbinWarrick View Post
It’s light rail fatigue in this city right now. The max has been expanded A LOT since 1998. I think the majority of residents are just over it. For now
My back of the napkin calculations would be a 68 minute trip from Forest Grove to Pioneer Courthouse Square based adding current travel time from Hatfield to Pioneer Square and the 18 minute travel time from Hatfield to Willow Creek which is approximately the same distance from Hatfield to Forest Grove.
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  #3580  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2021, 9:07 PM
bvpcvm bvpcvm is offline
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Originally Posted by MNTimberjack View Post
My largest concern is are we reaching a point where light rail isn't the best mode for this connection? A trip into Portland is going to take a long time on Light Rail. We trying to make light rail tackle multiple issues without excelling at any one of them. It may be time to start looking at what it would take to build out a regional rail network that connects more far flung nodes like Forest Grove, Newburg, and Woodburn.
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Originally Posted by MNTimberjack View Post
My back of the napkin calculations would be a 68 minute trip from Forest Grove to Pioneer Courthouse Square based adding current travel time from Hatfield to Pioneer Square and the 18 minute travel time from Hatfield to Willow Creek which is approximately the same distance from Hatfield to Forest Grove.
That's a long trip. Per Google, driving from Pacific University to Pioneer Square is about 36 minutes. It's frustrating, because it feels like Portland builds LRT to the minimum standard possible, resulting in achingly slow travel. And frankly the SW corridor is where we should be putting any LRT money.

I'd love to see commuter trains down to Salem, out to Newberg>McMinnville, Forest Grove, Canby, etc. Beyond that, perhaps off topic, I know that high speed rail is sexy but honestly I'd rather see Amtrak reconfigured to get rid of long distance lines and concentrate on regional rail. Trains to Corvallis and Eugene and Longview and Hood River make sense; I don't think trains to San Francisco do, at least not as much.
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