Massive Photo Update
Opening Day - Saturday, September 12th 2015:
As most know, last Saturday was the official opening day of
Trimt's new MAX Orange Line - running from Portland State University south through Milwaukie, OR ending at the suburban station at Park Avenue. The new bridge also debuted and it was a free Trimet day. My wife and I took the day and rode the line from our house in Sellwood, south to the end of the line and then north across the bridge to South Waterfront. We stopped to take pictures at the Bybee station, Park Ave, SE 12th ave/Clinton, and South Waterfront and OMSI.
This new MAX line is a pretty big deal. It vastly improves transit access, mobility and reliability for transit riders in SE Portland to Milwaukie, and features miles of new Amsterdam-level bike infrastructure and new pedestrian sidewalks and trails on both sides of the river. Access across SE Powell is vastly improved - SE 17th ave has been completely rebuilt and is similar to Interstate Ave. South Waterfront and the OMSI area have two new transit centers on either side of the bridge!
All in all I was highly impressed by the line - the design, construction, detailing, signage all seemed to be top-notch. I thought the stations were generally well integrated into the urban landscape (much better than the Green Line). Downtown Milwaukie, for instance, has their station right smack dab in the middle of downtown (we didn't stop as we were running out of time - but it was very crowded!). I live right next to the MAX and will definitely use it when I'm not biking.
New Map:
img from Trimet
Photobucket slideshow
all images taken by me, except for the map