TriMet/Metro Southwest Corridor Planning (Portland to Bridgeport Village)

[maccoinnich]

Will SW Corridor bring millions for biking, too? It might depend on the route



This post is part of our SW Portland Week.

Interstate Avenue owes its bike lanes to the Yellow Line MAX. The new Tilikum Crossing wouldn’t be standing without the Orange Line.

If the region agrees to build a high-capacity transit line through Southwest Portland to Tigard and Tualatin, major biking improvements — protected bike lanes on Barbur, a full Red Electric Trail between Hillsdale and Alpenrose Dairy, bike lanes and sidewalks on Multnomah Blvd — could be half-funded by federal grants, making them far easier to complete.

“A lot of people think this is just an HCT project, but it’s not,” Metro spokeswoman Noelle Dobson said Monday. Among other modes, she said, “it’s very much about improving bike transportation.”

But which biking improvements will get built will depend on which route a new TriMet bus or rail line would take.

...continues at Bike Portland.

[PDXDENSITY]

Is the SW corridor really going to get blocked by those votes in the suburbs?

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by PDXDENSITY

Is the SW corridor really going to get blocked by those votes in the suburbs?

It might not be as long as it should be, but it will probably happen and make it to at least the Tigard Triangle.

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

It might not be as long as it should be, but it will probably happen and make it to at least the Tigard Triangle.

Is that something viable that will happen? I kind of wish we could just stop it at PCC and then let the outer suburbs languish without widening highways until they realize we aren't going to subsidize their SUVs anymore, and acquiesce to join the MAX system. I mean, they're playing political hardball with citizen's ability to be mobile, we should at least turn the wrench to get them to come around.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by PDXDENSITY

Is that something viable that will happen? I kind of wish we could just stop it at PCC and then let the outer suburbs languish without widening highways until they realize we aren't going to subsidize their SUVs anymore, and acquiesce to join the MAX system. I mean, they're playing political hardball with citizen's ability to be mobile, we should at least turn the wrench to get them to come around.

Well the entire SW corridor needs to be restructured because the area wasn't properly designed for the growth it has seen over the past 50 years. I wouldn't see why it wouldn't be a possibility of building light rail through that corridor that only went to Tigard Triangle right now, it would be similar to what we have with the new Orange line where it was suppose to go all the way to Oregon City, but instead only goes to Milwaukie.

[davehogan]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Well the entire SW corridor needs to be restructured because the area wasn't properly designed for the growth it has seen over the past 50 years. I wouldn't see why it wouldn't be a possibility of building light rail through that corridor that only went to Tigard Triangle right now, it would be similar to what we have with the new Orange line where it was suppose to go all the way to Oregon City, but instead only goes to Milwaukie.

The most expensive part now, and the most expensive part in the future, will be the segment connecting downtown out to the first ring suburbs. Getting those built makes sense. The Orange Line will help concentrate transfers, and require less drivers than the current bus solutions. It would be great if it served Oregon City (and would probably do a bit for the value of the Willamette Falls redevelopment), but the Orange Line still makes sense for offering better connections through SE.

[maccoinnich]

New info on the Southwest Corridor options

by EngineerScotty on March 16, 2015 in General News, Southwest Corridor

Lately, the Powell/Division project has been getting much of the press, with significant public outreach in advance of next week’s Steering Committee meeting. But the Southwest Corridor project–a project that is on a far longer timetable–has been making some advances as well. This past week, three new documents were published by the project team:

• A brief overview of the different tunneling options
• Detailed descriptions of the different alignments in both the Downtown-OHSU and Hillsdale segments.

While there are many details to be worked out, one of the key sets of decisions to be made–and this may not be made for a while, as the DEIS process may include multiple options for analysis–are the mode (BRT or light rail) and the various tunneling options.

...continues at Portland Transport.

[bvpcvm]

Interesting. I'm surprised at how little positive difference a tunnel makes in travel time. Of course, a tunnel means better reliability (I don't commute by MAX, but it seems like every other day there's a delay due to hitting a car or pedestrian. Maybe that's not really the case, but it seems that way).

So if a tunnel really doesn't make travel time significantly faster, I think the Naito alignment is really interesting, given that it would trigger a lot of the Ross Island Bridgehead changes. A month or two ago I took a walk down there and going south along 1st Ave, it's a pedestrian nightmare. There's literally no way to cross Naito, except on the pedestrian bridge at Hooker, but that leaves you in a little island around NCNM. The only way to get to Corbett/Lair Hill is to walk down Barbur to about Lane St. Not fun. So if you live near Corbett the only (pleasant) way to get downtown is to go over the bridge to SOWA and take the streetcar.

MAX along Naito could really tie all these areas together. My only concern would be access to OHSU. I wonder if it would be possible to add a stop to the tram at Naito? The documents Engineer Scotty links to indicate some sort of "pedestrian access" to OHSU would be included, but it's not clear what those would be, and I'd worry they'd be minimal.

[65MAX]

I don't think the improvements to Naito and the Ross Island Bridgehead should be contingent on routing MAX through that ROW. The improvements are important enough to South Portland in their own right.

Also, there's no way in hell you're going to expect 1000's of commuters and patients who need to get to Pill Hill every day by transit to traverse over a 1/4 mile and climb over 300 feet in elevation to get to and from their destination. Even with elevators and/or escalators, you're adding a ton of time and energy to their trip if they have to get to Pill Hill from Naito. It's just not feasible, not to mention being inhumane. So it's not JUST the extra few minutes that the Naito alignment would add to the travel time, it's also the additional 5-10 minutes it would take to make that additional 1/4 mile x 300' trek. Even adding a second tram won't be able to address the passenger loads that the hospitals generate.

Of course, they have to consider all options when planning the SW Corridor, but if they aren't going to tunnel under OHSU, then they might as well not build anything at all.

[dubu]

Why is it just light rail or brt? You could have mono rail, then have a tunnel for bikes to ohsu

[maccoinnich]

I hear those things are awfully loud.

[dubu]

have a combo of bus and the train maybe. Like the orange line how the bus still will run

[urbanlife]

I am still rooting for a tunnel through pill hill and under Hillsdale. It would be a bold move, but worth it for the SW in the long run. I think the cost of this project in general would make BRT a half assed idea.

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

I am still rooting for a tunnel through pill hill and under Hillsdale. It would be a bold move, but worth it for the SW in the long run. I think the cost of this project in general would make BRT a half assed idea.

Trimet has proven itself efficient with construction. BRT is a cop out-- we should go for a MAX line in SW. Even if it stops in Tigard and is a BRT line the rest of the way.

[dubu]

If there's a tunnel they better have two lines that use it. Have one to PCC and one to tigard

I'm surprised there isn't two lines for the old max tunnel yet

[hat]

Originally Posted by 65MAX

I don't think the improvements to Naito and the Ross Island Bridgehead should be contingent on routing MAX through that ROW. The improvements are important enough to South Portland in their own right.

Also, there's no way in hell you're going to expect 1000's of commuters and patients who need to get to Pill Hill every day by transit to traverse over a 1/4 mile and climb over 300 feet in elevation to get to and from their destination. Even with elevators and/or escalators, you're adding a ton of time and energy to their trip if they have to get to Pill Hill from Naito. It's just not feasible, not to mention being inhumane. So it's not JUST the extra few minutes that the Naito alignment would add to the travel time, it's also the additional 5-10 minutes it would take to make that additional 1/4 mile x 300' trek. Even adding a second tram won't be able to address the passenger loads that the hospitals generate.

Of course, they have to consider all options when planning the SW Corridor, but if they aren't going to tunnel under OHSU, then they might as well not build anything at all.

This is going to be a difficult decision for the project. 65MAX: For sure, the Ross Island improvements should not be contingent on this corridor's alignment. I wish they would start removing the ramps to Barbur So. and build the I-405 ramp ASAP. This would limit southbound commuters on Barbur and give more sway to those neighborhood groups who want separated bike lanes on the bridges further south (see friends of barbur)

When Metro first mentioned having an "elevator or escalator system," it was unexpected to say the least. It must be possible or they wouldn't have brought it up, though I have no idea how much such an escalator might cost (how much was the zoo elevator, for example?). Surely, if Barbur became the alignment, it would take very little effort for riders. Even Naito is only two blocks to the theoretical escalator. This would also give Lair Hill residents access w/o walking all the way down to the So. Waterfront. And imagine the foot traffic on Gibbs! (Perhaps even some room for shops and a second wind for Lair Hill).

Again, I would prefer the tunnel, but I think this might be the most cost-effective alignment. Two blocks is indeed often less than a lot of bus transfers downtown.

[dubu]

I'd like to see (if there would be two lines from it) one line go to PCC and another to the Washington square mall. That would make too many trains downtown, so have the trains go down the orange line and have another line from the orange line that goes down 224 or Powell.

[bvpcvm]

Washington County anti-rail initiative gets derailed

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by bvpcvm

Washington County anti-rail initiative gets derailed

I am hoping we get this line built, light rail and reconstructing the Southwest Corridor is important to the metro and its growth.

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

I am hoping we get this line built, light rail and reconstructing the Southwest Corridor is important to the metro and its growth.

I honestly wish we could just make Metro into a county/city so that these whackjobs would be diluted and we could get high capacity transit to our suburbs.