TR Circular E-C058_9th LRT Conference_2003.pdf - Florida ...

Hastings 589
South/North MAX
The proposed South/North project would have extended light rail from Downtown south to
Milwaukie, and north along I-5 and to the Exposition Center. The 21-mi system would have
created a springboard for expansion north to Vancouver, Washington. But when Washington
voters defeated the local ballot measure to fund the initial efforts for light rail in southwest
Washington, it made the North commuter extension less attractive to Oregon voters.
In the statewide vote of 1998 the huge, ambitious expansion failed to receive enough
public and political support. The ballot measure, though supported in northeast and north
Portland, did not have enough statewide votes to pass.
However, a new realization was born in the aftermath of South/North’s defeat. In order to
expand the system, transit supporters needed to craft projects that responded to a community’s
desire for transportation alternatives, and would support their urban renewal needs. The City of
Portland, Metro, TriMet, the Portland Development Commission, and others would need to look
for strategic partnerships that would mutually support each other’s funding, community
planning, and growth management realities.
There have been two ways TriMet has responded to this new understanding. The first was
the extension of MAX to Portland International Airport. Light rail to the Portland International
Airport has been part of regional and local master planning since the mid-1980s. The design of
Interstate 205 (I-205) planned for a future bus-way in the median and a tunnel beneath the
northbound lanes north of Rocky Butte. This expansion sidestepped the normal public approval
process for funding by creating a unique public–private partnership. The project was organized
to use only public agency and private development funds, rather than requiring a voter-approved
tax or bond. Consequently, the alignment ran only through public right of way and private land
owned by the development partners.
Airport MAX
The 5.5-mi Airport MAX Red Line operates between the Portland International Airport (PDX)
and downtown Portland (with no transfers required). The Red Line runs every 15 min every day
beginning at 5 a.m., with the last train leaving PDX at 11: 30 p.m. The trip from PDX to
downtown Portland costs $1.55 and takes just 38 min. The extension is the result of an
innovative public–private partnership between the Port of Portland, TriMet, the city of Portland,
and a Bechtel Enterprises-led partnership with Trammel Crow Company, known as Cascade
Station Development Company, LLC. As part of the project, Cascade Station Development
Company will also develop Cascade Station, a 120-acre transit-oriented project featuring
hospitality, retail, entertainment, and office space served by two light rail stations.
The Airport MAX Red Line was a specific response to a unique opportunity. The
question remained: How could light rail be expanded where the community needed to be a full
partner in funding and design? The answer would be a project far less expensive than
South/North, which could use an existing public right-of-way, and which would help transform
an old interstate highway, and greatly contribute to a community’s desire for urban renewal and
economic development.