Portland Transit - Page 98

2oh1 · #**1941** Posted: **Jul 14, 2012, 7:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by RED_PDXer

I don't believe this for a second.

Agreed. Widening there is the sort of thing that sounds good in theory but would be a disaster in reality so long as I-5 is routed straight into Portland instead of around it.

Shilo Rune 96 · #**1942** Posted: **Aug 15, 2012, 5:49 AM**

Tigard City Council approves final land-use plans for high capacity transit

TIGARD -- At tonight's meeting, Tigard City Council unanimously approved a final report for land-use plans tied to bringing light rail, commuter rail or bus transit options to the city.

The approval, the latest step in a multi-tiered effort, accepts the blueprints for creating station communities around Metro's Southwest Corridor Plan for high capacity transit.

It is a green light for the city to start looking at implementation strategies for the community concepts in the plan.
More to come.

-- Findley Merritt

http://www.oregonlive.com/tigard/ind..._river_default

Grantenfuego · #**1943** Posted: **Aug 15, 2012, 8:22 PM**

Great news, but the timeline on this makes me anxious. Most articles read that this project is at least a decade away from even starting.

bvpcvm · #**1944** Posted: **Sep 19, 2012, 11:53 AM**

Clackamas County, King City voters approve anti-rail measures

The measures passed 60-40.

tworivers · #**1945** Posted: **Sep 19, 2012, 12:39 PM**

37.3% turnout in Clackamas.

Embarrassing all-around.

65MAX · #**1946** Posted: **Sep 19, 2012, 6:23 PM**

Clackamas Co can't un-sign a contract, no matter what the idiots behind this measure say. Also, who gives a s*** what King City wants. Light rail can very easily skip King City altogether and nobody would care.

If this had been on the Nov ballot, I doubt it would have passed. Who schedules a special election 7 weeks before a general election? They counted on low voter turnout in an off-election because it's only the zealots who bothered to vote on something like this.

MarkDaMan · #**1947** Posted: **Sep 19, 2012, 10:27 PM**

^Exactly!

I spent the weekend down in Silverton and as I was driving home north on some highway, I could tell I was in Clacky County when I started spotting the big yellow "LET US VOTE ON LIGHT RAIL" signs planted in the middle of farm fields 30 miles or so from Milwaukie.

I'm all for democracy, but jeebus, why are the farmers and rural conservatives so uptight about what is going on in the densely inhabited western county? I can guarantee them no "loot" rail will be coming to their farms in the next 100 years. With more rail, we could probably stop the "Portland Creep" at Oregon City.

bvpcvm · #**1948** Posted: **Sep 20, 2012, 12:03 AM**

I assume that out there they're up in arms because they may have to pay a few dollars a year in taxes that go to it.

maccoinnich · #**1949** Posted: **Sep 20, 2012, 5:38 AM**

I don't think this is going to have a lot of actual effect. PMLR is well under construction, and Clackamas County have now paid TriMet their share. The voters can't retroactively ask for it back.

As far as the future goes, Metro's High Capacity Transit plan has plenty of lines through Clackamas County, but only one designated as "Near Term Regional Priority": Beaverton to Willsonville, parallel to the WES corridor. As far as I know, this hasn't yet reached the planning stage, and would be some length of time away. The corridors that are being studied now, Barbur and Powell, don't touch Clackamas County.

I happen to think Milwaukie-Oregon City, or Clackamas TC-Washington Square via Milwaukie and Lake Oswego would be great additions to the regional transit network, but they are very far off anyway.

MarkDaMan · #**1950** Posted: **Oct 23, 2012, 11:32 PM**

Does anyone know what's being built on the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge? I think it's an art project, but there's steel being erected, about 20 or 30 feet high now.

NJD · #**1951** Posted: **Oct 23, 2012, 11:54 PM**

Art for the Streetcar project. One at Hawthorne and one at Morrison. There was a rendering in one of the papers a while back... It looked promising.

bvpcvm · #**1952** Posted: **Oct 24, 2012, 1:12 AM**

Speaking of this sort of thing, has anyone seen the art at the reconstructed Rockwood/188th MAX station?

MarkDaMan · #**1953** Posted: **Oct 24, 2012, 1:34 AM**

^^^Yep, it's...bold. Looks like something you'd see as part of the carnival during the Rose Fest.

Thanks you NJD, I was able to track down the article on google.

From the Oregonian (click link for news story):
http://www.oregonlive.com/art/index....ts_underw.html

Regional Arts & Culture Council
Jorge Pardo brings the sun inside to a shelter on the east end of the Broadway Bridge.

Regional Arts & Culture Council
Lead Pencil Studio will create two ghostly buildings on Hawthorne Boulevard and Belmont Street.

tworivers · #**1954** Posted: **Oct 24, 2012, 2:10 AM**

Holy awesome! The Hawthorne one looks particularly cool. Wait, are we in Portland?

zilfondel · #**1955** Posted: **Oct 24, 2012, 6:06 AM**

Whoa. I was wondering what that was. Thats crazy!

Demolished Portland · #**1956** Posted: **Oct 25, 2012, 11:48 AM**

In case you're wondering what used to be where the ghost building on Hawthorne is going up.

Courtesy Stephen Ingham and William Joseph Gallery
http://208.56.96.178/cgi-bin/photo/i...&currentOrder=

bvpcvm · #**1957** Posted: **Oct 27, 2012, 5:47 PM**

Sorry, not transit, but too lazy to look for a more appropriate thread:

Portland City Council endorses freeway widening plan, focuses on smaller roads around Rose Quarter for now

MarkDaMan · #**1958** Posted: **Nov 30, 2012, 3:10 AM**

from TriMet.org

Maintenance work will mean a better ride on MAX between northeast Portland and Gresham
November 29, 2012 by Roberta Altstadt

http://media.trimet.org/maintenance-...d-and-gresham/

Quote:

Work being done overnight Sundays-Thursdays for about 4 weeks

A rail-grinding project is underway on the MAX tracks from NE 82nd Avenue in Portland through Gresham. The result will be a better ride and lowered maintenance costs.

The rail grinding needs to be done in the overnight hours when MAX trains are not running. The work is scheduled for 11:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays for the next four weeks or so. Residents along the tracks from Gateway to Gresham may hear the equipment during the work. The grinding does generate sparks. Contract crews are following necessary fire watch precautions to suppress any sparks that may ignite.

Grinding restores rail’s curved top

Wear and tear from regular train activity creates bumps on the rails and flattens out the profile or curve on top of the rail. Every year or so, TriMet brings in a piece of machinery called a rail grinder that looks similar to a small freight train. The grinder is equipped with stones underneath. It is run back and forth over a section of the track to grind away the bumps. For the current project, TriMet is bringing in a specific type of grinder that not only smooths away the bumps, it also restores the curve on the top of the rail.

End result? A better ride

This work, known as profile grinding, will result in a better fit between the steel wheels of the MAX trains and the rails. This will mean trains will sway less; the ride will be smoother and quieter. The grinding also reduces maintenance costs for the MAX system by extending the life of the rails

.

philopdx · #**1959** Posted: **Dec 2, 2012, 1:56 AM**

Sellwood Bridge Update:

Photogeric · #**1960** Posted: **Dec 7, 2012, 4:50 PM**

ODOT has updated their Flikr page with some new pictures. It looks like the new trainsets have made it to Colorado for testing. I haven't read anything about how long testing is supposed to take before they are shipped to Seattle and then onto Portland.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oregond...7629281025352/

(It's been said before, and I'll say it again...God those new engines are horrendous!)