The Federal Transit Administration on Thursday officially awarded TriMet $87.4 million in funding for the Division Transit Project.

The project is intended to create new, high-capacity bus service between downtown Portland and Gresham. New, 60-foot-long articulated buses will serve the route, which TriMet hopes will reduce travel times up to 20 percent over current options.

The project budget is $175 million – half will come from the federal government and the rest from local sources, including $40.7 million from TriMet and $17.7 million from the city of Portland.

“The Division Transit Project will not just improve public transit; it will deliver vital pedestrian and biking improvements, prioritize accessibility, and make Division safer for all Portlanders,” Portland City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly said at a media event on Thursday morning.

The contract awarded to Raimore Construction, the project’s general contractor, is the largest ever given in Oregon to a minority-owned firm or disadvantaged business enterprise.

Construction is scheduled to begin in coming weeks on up to 42 new bus stations in four different configurations as well as 28 blocks of dedicated bus/business access lanes at key locations, including an 11-block stretch between Southeast 111th and 122nd avenues.

Traffic and pedestrian signals and lighting along the route will be upgraded with transit signal priority, and 4.5 miles of protected bicycle lanes will be constructed.

Twenty new marked crosswalks with stop lights, median islands or flashing lights will be installed along with improvements to existing pedestrian crossing signals.

Finally, around 81,000 square feet of new sidewalks – 59,000 square feet in Portland and 22,000 square feet in Gresham – will be built along the corridor.

The project also is anticipated to generate more than 1,400 jobs, including 650 construction jobs.

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what eventually could be one of the largest contracts ever given by TriMet to a certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) in Oregon.

The TriMet Board of Directors voted Wednesday to approve award of the pre-construction services contract for the Division Transit Project to Raimore Construction. The project will allow new, 60-foot-long, articulated buses to provide service along Division Street from downtown Portland to Gresham.

The initial contract is worth $395,000, but the board will revisit the contract prior to construction, and is likely to ultimately amend it to account for up to $65 million in construction costs, according to the resolution passed by the board. The project in its entirety will cost an estimated $175 million by the time it is carried out, with funding coming from state, regional, local and federal sources.

“It is such a huge deal,” TriMet spokeswoman Tia York said. “TriMet has worked with Raimore for a very long time.”

Raimore Construction is a certified DBE and has worked with TriMet on transit projects for 20 years. This includes construction of the MAX yellow light-rail line through North Portland. During that project, TriMet created its current framework for supporting DBEs as well as minority-owned and women-owned businesses.

Raimore Construction also carried out a $6.8 million project involving construction of shelters along the MAX orange line route. It was among the first instances of a black-owned general contractor completing a major construction project in Oregon. It also is the largest contract to date that TriMet has awarded a DBE.

The federal government defines a DBE as a small, for-profit business at least 51-percent owned by people defined by the government as “socially and economically disadvantaged.”

Division Transit Project construction is expected to begin in 2019, and bus service along the route is projected to start in 2022. As many as 42 new bus stops and 83 new platforms will be built with improved rider amenities.

The new line will offer frequent service, as the heavily traveled Line 4 (Division/Fessenden) does. Buses will arrive at each stop every 15 minutes or sooner, for much of the day.

The project infrastructure will serve an area that is now part of TriMet’s most popular and heavily traveled bus route. Line 4 provides more than 16,400 trips on an average weekday. TriMet plans to split Line 4 this fall into two routes, one that serves downtown and North Portland, the other Division Street.

In addition, the new buses traveling the 15-mile route will be given traffic signal priority to accelerate service.

This article has been edited to show the correct cost of the construction project.

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