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Work has begun on an approximately $215 million project to extend TriMet‘s MAX Red Line into Hillsboro and improve service across the light-rail system.

Currently, the Red Line runs from Portland International Airport to the Beaverton Transit Center. Crews will extend the Red Line westward to 10 new stations.

TriMet’s plan also calls for a number of system upgrades intended to reduce congestion and boost reliability. These include:

• constructing a second set of tracks in two sections between Gateway Transit Center and the airport in order to reduce delays (currently, MAX trains sometimes must wait for one traveling the opposite direction);
• building a Gateway North station;
• renovating the airport MAX station and building a new multiuse path connecting the airport to Northeast 82nd Avenue;
• building two new bridges 鈥� one over Interstate 84 to connect to the new Gateway North station and another to the north to provide access to Gateway Green; and
• upgrading tracks, switches and signals in order to expand service in Washington County.

MAX trains in Washington County were often crowded at peak times before the pandemic began, according to TriMet. The expansion will help people who struggle to find affordable housing near workplaces, shopping centers and medical services, officials stated.

鈥淭o Washington County, the Red Line expansion is more than an investment in transportation,鈥� Washington County Commissioner Nafisa Fai stated in a news release. 鈥淚t’s an investment in creating safer, healthier and more livable connected communities.鈥�

The project 鈥� called 鈥淎 Better Red鈥� 鈥� is being paid for in part via a $99.9 million Federal Transit Administration construction grant that was announced on Sept. 24.

Stacy and Witbeck, a longtime contractor for TriMet projects, is the contractor for the Red Line extension. Stacy and Witbeck in 2019 was awarded the construction manager/general contractor role, including $508,000 for preconstruction services.

At the time, TriMet forecasted that the project would increase ridership by about 5,000 daily trips. Increased revenue was expected to cover 30 percent to 50 percent of higher operation costs.

Completion is expected in 2024.

More modest improvements are coming to the Lloyd District. TriMet will rebuild a section of track slightly east of the Lloyd Center/Northeast 11th Ave MAX station beginning Sunday. Disruptions are expected through Oct. 23.

TriMet is also awaiting word on federal funding for the Southwest Corridor light-rail construction project. The extension to Tigard and Tualatin has been on the shelf since Metro voters in November 2020 rejected a multibillion-dollar bond package that would have paid for the rail extension and other projects.

Meanwhile, the $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill has passed the U.S. Senate and is now before the House. Dollars from that bill could potentially be allocated to the Southwest Corridor project. A TriMet spokeswoman declined an interview request.

鈥淚t is a bit too early for us to comment as the bill continues to evolve,鈥� Roberta Altstadt stated in an email.