New light rail line planned for Tigard

  • 2019-03-27
It was recently unanimously voted by a manger from the Oregon Department of Transportation, TriMet’s general manager, and a steering committee of local elected officials to build a new light rail line, 12 miles in length, that would connect downtown Portland, Tigard and Tualatin.

TriMet’s project manager for the light-rail plan, Jeb Doran, outlined the route of the plan, saying that it would go behind the Barbur Transit Center, after which it would cross I-5 and Capitol Highway as an elevated bridge and then land at Southwest Barbur Boulevard and Capitol Highway at an intersection called the Crossroads. Although still in the planning stages, this new rail line would be the first such line in Portland since the Orange Line.

Funding for the project, which is expected to cost between $2.8 billion to $3.1 billion, still requires approval by local governments and voters in a regionwide transportation funding measure, which may take place during the general election in November 2020. Print shops can be used so that voters have more detailed information about such project before going to the polls. The federal government also needs to contribute half the cost.

Although this plan settled a major issue regarding the Crossroads, the next issue to be resolved is how the light rail will be connected the campus of Oregon Health and Sciences University.
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