Along MAX Orange light-rail tracks, visions of transit-oriented multifamily development are slowly becoming reality.

Completed in 2015 at a cost of $1.49 billion, the route between Milwaukie and downtown Portland was meant to more tightly link the region and encourage car-free transportation alongside dense, transit-oriented multifamily development.

Only now is the multifamily piece of the puzzle beginning to fall into place.

One example is the Dean River Apartments, which is rising in Southeast Portland. The four-story, 72-unit building is being constructed on a 0.32-acre triangle left over from creation of the Orange Line. A light-rail station is located only a block away at Southeast 17th Avenue and Rhine Street.

The project is from Northwest Sustainable Properties and Siteworks Design-Build. Both companies are owned and managed by Jean-Pierre Veillet, a local sculptor-turned-developer who has focused on urban infill projects in Portland neighborhoods.

The Dean River Apartments will have living units on all four floors, and no parking. The building will include 47 studio units, two one-bedroom units, 21 two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units. The project is subject to inclusionary zoning, and a complement of units will be provided to renters at 60 percent of median family income.

“I don’t think this is just for young people,” Veillet said. “It’s for people who don’t want a big house in the West Hills, or even a small house.”

The building – named for a pristine natural river in British Columbia – might also make sense for retirees, Veillet said.

“They can retire to an environment where they can get everywhere on transit,” he said.

The building, designed by Siteworks’ David Mclaughlin, places a premium on units. There was no room within the 45-foot height limit for a rooftop deck. However, the building does have an amenity deck and bike parking. Special attention was paid to soundproofing in the busy corridor.

The small parcel at 3255 S.E. 17th Ave. was carved out from land left over after construction of the Orange Line. Neighbors had urged TriMet to allow them to cultivate a garden on the parcel. Instead, the transit agency sold the property to Veillet for $959,000.

“They put $1.5 billion into the MAX line,” Veillet said. “The best and highest use is apartments that are going to drive (rail) traffic.”

Veillet said he expects the project to cost approximately $13.5 million. Earlier this week, a crew from subcontractor Barry Bray Construction Co. was pouring concrete for the foundation and doing some framing. The project is expected to go vertical soon, with completion anticipated next summer.

“The Orange Line was really unique,” said Bob Hastings, a TriMet official who serves as a liaison with developers. “It was cutting through so many different sectors, from downtown to OHSU‘s Schnitzer campus. When we crossed over to the Eastside, we realized this would be more fine grain, more entrepreneurial. So what it’s attracted is folks who see a different thought or spin on things.”

Another developer, Michael Tevis of Intrinsic Ventures, is planning to construct a seven-story building at Southeast Eighth Avenue and Division Street on land purchased from TriMet. The building would have 115,600 square feet of occupied space, including industrial and traditional office, manufacturing and production, and ground-floor retail.

Further south, adjacent to the downtown Milwaukie stop, Guardian Real Estate Services is building Axletree – a five-story, mixed-use building with 110 apartments. The developer’s website touts Axletree’s close proximity “less than 300 feet away” from the MAX station.

“If we were urban planners, we’d be drawing this project up,” said Shawn Sullivan, senior project manager for Guardian. “It’s right in the core … It’s the poster for light-rail stop multifamily urban development.”

The building is on track to be ready for occupancy in mid-to-late September, Sullivan said. Earlier this week, crews were finishing siding and the fifth-floor punch list.

TriMet has been more aggressive in recent years working with developers.

“We want development to happen around our light-rail stations, so we’re looking to be more proactive,” Hastings said.

There may be more to come. A new proposal was submitted Aug. 2 to the Bureau of Development Services for a 160-unit multifamily building designed by Hacker. The building at 4245 S.E. Milwaukie Ave., in the Brooklyn neighborhood, would be five blocks from the Orange Line.

Discussions are picking up to develop the Clinton Triangle, an industrial area off of the Orange Line that includes land owned by Portland Fire & Rescue. The Portland Housing Bureau has expressed interest in eventually building affordable housing in the area.

“The whispers are turning into audible voices and discussions,” Hastings said.

A new home for the fire bureau would have to be found prior to developing the site. Hastings said TriMet still has plenty of remnant properties that could conceivably host a fire station. Discussions are still in an early stage, according to Housing Bureau spokeswoman Martha Calhoon.

“There hasn’t at this point been coordinated conversation about the removal of essential city services from the property for future development,” she stated in an email.

Veillet said he has taken an interest in the Clinton Triangle.

“That whole area is locked up and it’s right near a transit station,” he said.

Some commercial growth has occurred too, including Mt. Hood Brewing Co.’s Tilikum Station location and Ruse Brewing’s taproom in the Iron Fireman Collective building.

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is working on a master plan to develop its 18.5-acre campus along the Willamette River. Gerding Edlen is serving as master developer.

For Northwest Sustainable Properties and Siteworks Design-Build, the Orange Line project followed previous ones, including a major historic building renovation for Pine Street Market. Veillet’s multifamily portfolio includes Sunshine Apartments, a 90-unit development next to Hopworks Urban Brewery off of Southeast Powell Boulevard and 29th Avenue, and ecoFLATS on North Williams Avenue.

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Portland and Tigard are eyeing a series of affordable housing projects along the route of the planned Southwest Corridor light-rail line.

The projects are part of the Southwest Corridor Equitable Housing Strategy. The initiative aims to combat the rapid gentrification that has occurred in neighborhoods along previous MAX line extensions.

The Portland City Council is due to adopt on Thursday an implementation plan for the Equitable Housing Strategy. The council is scheduled to take up the matter at a 2 p.m. meeting.

The plan, posted online ahead of the council’s meeting, reveals a list of likely sites and Portland’s intention to join a memorandum of understanding with TriMet, Tigard, the Washington County Housing Authority and Metro to set priorities for the sites. Tigard has already adopted the plan.

Among the sites being considered for affordable housing developments are the Ross Island bridgehead, the Barbur Transit Center, Portland Community College’s Sylvania campus and the Tigard Transit Center. All are publicly owned. A few details about each:

• The Oregon Department of Transportation and the city of Portland are considering a major redevelopment of roadways on the west end of the Ross Island Bridge. The tangle of highway ramps and local streets has been identified as a traffic-circulation problem since at least 1978. A previous Metro report said cleanup of the area could yield about 2.8 acres of developable property. ODOT and the city own portions of the land underneath the bridgehead. The land could support 300-450 units of affordable housing, according to the housing strategy document.
• The Barbur Transit Center, owned by TriMet, could be redeveloped to include a light-rail station and a mixed-use building or buildings with housing. In that scenario, the transit center could support 100-200 housing units on a portion of the five-acre site.
• The PCC Board of Directors is weighing whether to support development of affordable housing on the Sylvania campus, within walking distance of a planned light-rail station on 53rd Avenue.
• The current Tigard Transit Center could be redeveloped if transit center functions were to move to a new light-rail station in downtown Tigard. The current center’s 0.8-acre site could hold up to 67 units.

Other privately owned properties could be purchased for the transit project but be deemed surplus after light rail construction is finished, making them available for redevelopment, the strategy document states.

All of the planned projects – the Southwest Corridor MAX line and the related housing strategy – could be tied to a Metro bond measure that would be put before voters in 2020.

The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability led development of the housing strategy. City officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The report to the City Council concludes, “The opportunity to get ahead of the predictable cycle of gentrification and displacement is now. Our region is well positioned to learn from the past and provide a new model of equitable growth.”

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Metro is continuing to spur an effort to develop a group of properties it owns in Gresham‘s Civic neighborhood.

On top of Civic Northwest – a mixed-use development on five acres bordered in part by light-rail tracks and Northwest Civic Drive – a similar and even larger development (Civic Southwest) designed by SERA Architects was presented to the Gresham Design Commission on Wednesday for early assistance.

The proposed 400-unit Civic Drive Apartments project is being developed by Palindrome Communities. Plans call for two mixed-use buildings and one solely residential building on 4.23 acres. The development would be separated from Civic Northwest by only light-rail tracks; the two developments are poised to rise virtually simultaneously.

Preliminary plans for the Civic Drive Apartments presented Wednesday by Gauri Rajbaidya, a SERA Architects associate, show two five-story buildings and one four-story building. A below-grade parking garage would include storage space, building services, back-of-house space serving commercial tenants and approximately 400 parking spaces. Plus, 42 additional surface parking spaces would be built to accommodate visitors and commercial tenants.

Both Civic Northwest and Civic Southwest are being designed with the Civic Drive MAX Station in mind.

“We are looking to complement the activity that happens on the northwest side to really make the site very active,” Rajbaidya told the Design Commission.

Commissioners, however, asked that designers reconfigure Building C, on the property’s northeast side, to provide better views of the MAX station from both Civic Drive and an interior courtyard.

“It seems like it’s really blocking off the main driver to this project, turning your back on it and putting a barrier in the way of that MAX stop,” commissioner Pat Lando said.

Building A, on the southeast corner of the site, would be a U-shaped structure and include apartments, retail space, building services, tenant services, a leasing office, a fitness room and an exterior courtyard with seating and landscape amenities. This building would face the back the back of the Gresham Station shopping center, so a brewpub, fitness center or other active space would likely be pursued to energize the streetscape.

“It’s a shame that code wasn’t better written when Gresham Station went in,” Commission Chairman Rob Cook said. “As far as I’m concerned, landscaping and things of that nature are going to be your best friend to try to contain the beauty of your project from what’s across the street. There’s not much you can do with those hard concrete surfaces without any vegetation.”

Building B, on the southwest corner, would be rectangular and have a lobby and apartments on the ground level.

Finally, Building C would dominate the north side of the site. It would be V-shaped, according to preliminary drawings, and have a lobby as well as meeting and lounge space on the ground floor.

Initial plans do not indicate the exact composition of each building (one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments are planned), but 240 market-rate units would be split between buildings A and B, and 160 workforce units would be in Building C.

All three buildings’ exteriors would feature brick and fiber cement panels.

Overall, the commission expressed enthusiasm for the project, which is on track to continue the transformation of central Gresham between Burnside and Division streets.

“We’re really excited to see this project coming through to complete that Gresham civic core,” Cook said.

A formal pre-application meeting for the project will be scheduled next, prior to submission of a development application.

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A proposed mixed-use development with 310 residential units could help transform Gresham‘s Civic neighborhood into a much busier place.

At the heart of the proposal is a five-acre parcel located near the intersection of Northwest Civic Drive and MAX blue light-rail tracks in downtown Gresham. It is one of four Metro-owned properties in the area and the first of those being targeted for development.

The plan for “Civic Northwest” envisions as many as seven mixed-use or residential buildings being constructed on the site bordered by Northwest Fanning Way, Council Drive, Civic Drive and MAX tracks. Those buildings would surround a central parking lot and a public plaza with a playground and other amenities.

Metro and the city of Gresham nearly a year ago jointly released a for the project. They subsequently chose a development and design team of Atlanta-based Wood Partners and YBA Architects.

Design advice from the city planning department was requested in May, and site concepts were presented to the Gresham Design Commission shortly thereafter. The project is still in the design stage.

Early site concepts show four three-story residential buildings on the northwest portion of the trapezoidal property. Each of these buildings would have slightly more than 22,000 square feet and 24 residential units.

Then, on the southeast side, three other mixed-use buildings – two five stories and another four stories, would front Northwest Civic Drive. One five-story building would be 73,225 square feet and hold 87 residential units, and the other would be 71,190 square feet and hold 72 residential units. Each would offer ground-floor commercial space. The four-story mixed-use building would be 50,900 square feet and hold 55 residential units. It also would have ground-floor commercial space.

The plaza would feature prominently on the property’s southeast edge, near the MAX tracks.

Master planning efforts envision this part of the city featuring an array of housing, businesses and entertainment along with public gathering areas and green spaces. The Civic neighborhood is singled out as one of the city’s three core commercial areas for high-density, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development.

Both Metro and the city of Gresham are offering financial incentives to develop this parcel and the three others in the neighborhood owned by Metro.

For instance, the city has up to $634,000 in system development charges and local improvement district funds available for construction of the plaza and open space, with the requirement that those amenities be dedicated to the city. In addition, the city offers vertical housing tax credits for projects on these four sites.

Meanwhile, Metro’s Transit Oriented Development program was created with projects like this in mind. TOD supports high-density development near high-capacity transit lines. It has two mechanisms to accomplish this: the land value write-down, and the purchase of a TOD easement.

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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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In a not too distant future, a MAX light-rail line will run south from downtown Portland to Bridgeport Village, taking commuters and shoppers 12 miles from end to end. The project is expected to cost $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion and produce infrastructure to serve 43,000 riders per day by 2035.

Behind the scenes, transportation officials and elected representatives have been making decisions about the specific route. Metro in March produced an initial route proposal for local government personnel, business owners and citizens to weigh in on.

Metro wants to “make sure people get a chance to comment on something that might be real,” project manager Chris Ford said. “It’s not a staff recommendation, but it is a realistic option.”

Ryan Sweeney just hopes the route doesn’t go through his restaurant.

Sweeney is part of the family that owns the Village Inn, a franchise restaurant pinched between Bridgeport Village and Interstate 5 on Southwest 72nd Avenue.

Sweeney was invited to meet with a Metro representative to discuss the route as part of the regional agency’s outreach to businesses that could be affected by the light-rail line.

“He rolled out one of those big maps,” Sweeney recalled. “I could tell right away … The plans for the project completely engulf our property. We kind of had to digest that information.”

Small-business owners and leaders of major institutions along the route including Oregon Health & Science University are working to understand how the MAX light-rail line will affect them. The initial preferred route would move from the downtown Transit Mall south to Barbur Boulevard until the Barbur Transit Center, cross Interstate 5 on a new bridge and run adjacent to the interstate, then run onto 70th Avenue before crossing Oregon Route 217, pass by the Tigard Triangle with two stations, and join a railroad right-of-way west of I-5 before reaching Bridgeport Village.

OHSU officials are hopeful that the project will include an elevator and pedestrian bridge that would connect Barbur Boulevard to OHSU’s campus. An elevator tower would be built near the intersection of Barbur and Gibbs Street. Commuters could ride the elevator to a pedestrian bridge that would take them to the intersection of Campus Drive and Terwilliger Boulevard.

“Generally speaking, we’re supportive of the route recommendation from the (Metro) staff,” said Brian Newman, vice president for campus development at OHSU.

OHSU has 12,000 employees at the Marquam Hill campus. That doesn’t count the 2,900 employees at the neighboring Department of Veterans Affairs hospital.

In addition to the Marquam Hill connections, the initial route proposal envisions a connection to the Portland Community College-Sylvania campus. A Metro document also refers to future improvements to the Ross Island bridgehead “as part of a larger effort.”

Bridgeport Village, a shopping mall owned by CenterCal Properties, would be the southern terminus. A large park-and-ride facility is planned.

The project is an enormous undertaking – the first MAX expansion since the orange line opened in 2015 and a multibillion-dollar attempt to link Portland more closely with southwestern suburbs.

Construction would begin in 2023 and trains would begin operating along the line in 2027 if all goes according to plan.

The Southwest Corridor route is still being defined and could change. A draft environmental impact statement is expected to be released by the Federal Transit Administration in May.

The Portland and Tigard city councils, along with the TriMet board, are expected to vote on the route in July. The Metro board would follow with its own vote in mid-October on the final route, known as the locally preferred alternative. Metro must add the project to a regional transportation plan to make it eligible for federal funding. Metro would also issue a land-use final order authorizing TriMet to construct the route across multiple land-use jurisdictions.

The city of Portland is analyzing the feasibility of building a batch of affordable housing projects along the route in an attempt to get ahead of the gentrification that often comes with light-rail construction.

Mark McGirr, president of Atiyeh Bros. at 6750 S.W. Bonita Road in Tigard, said the route would minimize disruptions to businesses. McGirr is part of a coalition of nearby business owners who are weighing in on the proposed route.

“They’ve landed on the right route in our area,” he said. “It makes sense to use that (railroad) right-of-way. It has less impact of businesses, faster travel time and has the best access to the residents and the transit-dependent people of Tigard.”

The route also would proceed by Under Armour‘s new building at Duniway Park. The athletic apparel company did not respond to a request for comment.

The light-rail line would not enter downtown Tualatin because of significant infrastructure barriers.

“We wish it could have come into downtown Tualatin,” Tualatin Chamber of Commerce CEO Linda Moholt said. “They just truly couldn’t figure out how to get through it without upsetting and moving and causing a tremendous amount of upheaval. They’ve come up with a good alternative.”

Tualatin officials are studying ways to move people from Bridgeport Village to downtown Tualatin.

“Almost 90 percent of our workforce drives in every day, so being able to enhance transit is a goal of the community,” Moholt said. “It will help us move people and reduce congestion and improve environment quality of air and living conditions if we can get people out of single-occupancy vehicles.”

Moholt said she supports the project even though it would create winners and losers. The Village Inn restaurant would be one of the businesses most impacted. It has become a community gathering place in its more than three decades in business, she said.

“We’ve got a thriving business here that people in the community have been coming to for years,” Sweeney said.

The business already moved once, in 2005, to accommodate construction of Bridgeport Village. The restaurant moved about 500 yards across the intersection.

“It was a pretty sweet deal,” Sweeney said. “We got a new building out of it at the developer’s expense.”

Sweeney is not as optimistic about moving a second time. The current location is highly visible from I-5 and Bridgeport Village, he said. Any new location might not be as good.

“I’m looking around, and I don’t see any spaces that are as prime of a spot as I’m in currently,” he said.

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The city of Portland may order a housing development feasibility study along the route of a future MAX light-rail line in the southwest metro area.

City leaders are trying to get ahead of gentrification along the proposed route with a batch of affordable housing projects. On Wednesday, the City Council is scheduled to consider additional funding for Housing Development Center (HDC), a Portland nonprofit, to carry out the feasibility study.

HDC would evaluate up to eight sites along the Interstate 5 corridor in Southwest Portland, with one near each anticipated MAX station. The city has a minimum goal of 1,000 new affordable units along the light-rail corridor, and up to 2,300 if more funding can be secured.

The city expects at least two sites to host mixed-use buildings. Two other sites could accommodate as many as 500 units each of market-rate and affordable housing.

The Housing Bureau and Bureau of Planning and Sustainability would create a joint agreement for the plan, known as the Southwest Corridor Equitable Housing Strategy. The City Council item, if approved, would add $68,419 to an existing contract HDC has with the Housing Bureau.

Planning for the affordable housing comes as Metro plans to establish a light-rail line from downtown Portland, through Tualatin and Tigard, to Bridgeport Village. Metro’s Southwest Corridor Light Rail Advisory Committee has been meeting regularly to evaluate options for the MAX line. Route options would follow Barbur Boulevard and I-5 at certain points.

“Two major goals are to prevent residential and cultural displacement before the area becomes more desirable and developed,” said Ryan Curren, project manager for the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

Portland officials have studied what happened along the yellow line route in North Portland when it opened in 2004. Land prices increased and residents were displaced. Some nearby homeowners were targets of predatory lending and real-estate practices, Curren said.

“The lesson there is get it early,” he said. “There’s been a lot of displacement around the yellow line – some of it would have happened just because of the location. What we could have done is have a little earlier action to secure land (for affordable housing).”

A draft environmental impact statement is being prepared to potentially answer remaining questions about the proposed routes.

A final decision on the route will be made in July, with the Portland and Tigard city councils adopting a joint plan. Metro’s council would follow.

Businesspeople near the proposed routes have begun to weigh in.

“Overall, I’m optimistic about increasing the amount of available transit in the area and creating more options,” said Chad Hastings, general manager of CenterCal Properties, which manages Bridgeport Village and other properties in the Portland area.

Hastings said he anticipates Bridgeport Village would have an end-of-the-line transit center similar to the one at Clackamas Town Center. Bridgeport Village already has park-and-ride facilities that could be used, he said.

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Transportation planners and engineers are facing big choices that will affect residents in Southwest Portland and beyond for decades to come.

A new MAX light-rail line is . The route is broken into four sections, beginning at the south end of Portland’s city core, near Portland State University, and ending at Bridgeport Village in southeast Tigard. Options for each section carry a variety of advantages and drawbacks that include property impacts, travel times and cost.

has fallen on a steering committee featuring representatives of key agencies such as Metro, TriMet and area municipalities. Choosing wisely should provide commuters an efficient system for a reasonable cost. Choosing poorly could leave the region with an expensive and underused line.

Here is a look at options being considered:

Section 1: leaving downtown Portland

From Portland State University, at the southern end of the transit mall, the MAX would follow either Barbur Boulevard or run along Naito Parkway. After the streets converge, the line would follow Barbur Boulevard at least until reaching Southwest 13th Avenue.

Stay on Barbur Boulevard:

“Its big advantage is it would provide closer connection to Marquam Hill,” said Chris Ford, Metro’s Southwest Corridor Plan project manager.

The route would provide for a stop that would lead to either a tunnel with an elevator or steps leading up to Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).

The route would be faster than Naito Parkway, by between 60 to 90 seconds. Barbur Boulevard also would be less expensive, although if a tunnel is chosen to access Marquam Hill, cost savings would be minimal.

The negative consequences of staying on Barbur Boulevard would largely focus on impacts to local property owners, ranging from relocation to inconvenience during construction.

Naito Parkway:

Ford said the major advantage of following Naito Parkway is that it would provide an additional stop and easier access to the orange line for riders coming from or going to Milwaukie.

A big factor working against this alignment is price. Large sections of Naito Parkway are elevated and would have to be rebuilt. Access to the Ross Island Bridge would also have to be reconfigured. Currently, drivers access the bridge through a route close to area residents. Using this route would likely mean building a traditional ramp to the bridge.

“It’s much more expensive,” Ford said. “It’s a loaded cost, but you get a benefit out of it.”

Another factor against its use is that the route would make access to Marquam Hill longer by about two blocks, which could hinder people with physical infirmities.

Section 2: Southwest 13th Avenue to the Tigard Triangle

From Southwest 13th Avenue, the light-rail line could either continue to follow Barbur Boulevard to the Tigard Triangle or follow a route adjacent to Interstate 5.

Barbur Boulevard:

The biggest advantage to staying on Barbur Boulevard is that stations would become much more convenient to access. The track would run down the middle of the road, which would be widened to accommodate two lanes on each side, plus bike lanes and sidewalks. The sidewalks would extend the entire route. Currently, sidewalks have significant gaps along both sides of the busy thoroughfare.

Also, reconstruction of the road could spur major redevelopment in the area.

The biggest challenge is the disruption that construction would cause. Much of the road would have to be rebuilt for the rail line. Major utility lines run under the street and would be affected. Significant land acquisitions would be required and the relocation of a large number of businesses would have to relocate. Also, traffic on a major commuter route into downtown Portland would be affected.

“Back in December 2016, our steering committee preferred to be on Barbur Boulevard, knowing what redevelopment issues might be there,” Ford said.

Adjacent to Interstate 5:

Another option would be to leave Barbur Boulevard at Southwest 13th Avenue and follow Interstate 5 to the Tigard Triangle.

The biggest advantage to staying along Interstate 5, as compared to staying on Barbur Boulevard, would be far fewer disruptions to traffic and area businesses. The new line would be set back from Interstate 5 to allow for future expansion of the interstate, and be elevated through most of the stretch.

The route does have its drawbacks. The fact that much of the route would be on elevated platforms presents challenges because the area has significant elevation changes between downtown Portland and the Tigard Triangle. Rail stations need relatively flat surfaces, which makes placement tricky.

While the Interstate 5 route would be cheaper to build, some savings would be offset by the number of bridges required. There would be bridges over Southwest 13th Avenue, Southwest 26th Avenue and Multnomah Boulevard.

“There is a cost difference,” Ford said. “It’s not so great that you are going to choose one or the other because of that.”

Section 3: Tigard Triangle to downtown Tigard

There are two options being considered for this connection.

Clinton Street:

This route would turn west on Southwest Clinton Street and use a bridge to cross Southwest Dartmouth Street and Oregon Route 217. Tracks would then cross Southwest Hall Boulevard and Pacific Highway into downtown Tigard.

The biggest drawback is that it would allow fewer stations than following Ash Avenue.

Ash Avenue:

A second option would follow Ash Avenue, then cross Oregon Route 217 on a shorter bridge to Southwest Hall Boulevard. This option would require fewer elevated lines, be less expensive and provide for more stations.

The drawback is that it would have “high-profile property impacts” on the surrounding area, according to Ford. Local businesses would be affected and downtown Tigard would be impacted substantially.

Section 4: Connecting to Bridgeport Village

Once the line reaches downtown Tigard, the question is how it will go to Bridgeport Village. Two options are on the table.

Branched route that would split at the Tigard Triangle:

One line would connect to Tigard. The other leg would connect to Bridgeport Village via Southwest 70th Avenue, using a separate bridge over Oregon Route 217, then run adjacent to Interstate 5.

The big advantage of the branched system is speed. It would cut travel time on the route by several minutes each way.

The disadvantages are greater cost, more complications and excessive service.

“You have to provide too much service through the shared portion of the route before the branch to Bridgeport begins,” Ford said. “You are providing double service in order to get that train to Bridgeport.”

TriMet personnel agree on the added difficulty.

“Branch service is more complex to operate,” said Leah Robbins, TriMet’s Southwest Corridor project director. “It requires more cost for that operation. That is difficult for TriMet to be behind.”

Route through Tigard

This would run to the Tigard Transit Center, using one of the options for reaching downtown Tigard, and then to Bridgeport Village beside freight rail tracks. The line would be relatively simple to operate, but would require TriMet to negotiate use of land adjacent to Union Pacific railroad tracks. TriMet worked out a similar agreement with the railroad when the orange line was built.

Another possibility under this option would be to run from Tigard to Tualatin on a route adjacent to Interstate 5. While it would avoid negotiations for land access, it would require more elevated track and likely cost more.

Summary

Environmental impact studies are being performed for all of the potential Southwest Corridor routes, and are expected to wrap up by 2019. Once a preferred route is selected, funding will present another challenge. The expansion could cost between $2.4 billion and $2.8 billion by the time it is completed in 2025. TriMet is considering putting a $1.7 billion bond on the ballot to cover its share, but federal funding would also be necessary.

“For all of the route options, we are looking forward to the years of operating it,” Robbins said. “We want a reliable, fast system that will work for opening day and 30 and 50 years beyond.”

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