December 11, 2003
City Council, TriMet Approve Light Rail On Downtown Transit Mall
New Station Designs For Transit Mall Light Rail
Last week, the Portland City Council unanimously approved moving forward with the transit mall revitalization project, which includes putting new light rail lines along SW 5th and 6th Avenues.
What the Council approved is the Locally Preferred Alternative Recommendation, which does not include a determination as to the actual design of the light rail stations themselves, for example, but simply determines that there shall be light rail on the mall, that Portland State University is the recommended southern terminus of the line, and that the station locations along the route generally will be sited as previously indicated, with some continued discussion and room for changes.
During the brief hearing leading up to Council approval, it was reiterated several times that approval of the LPA was separate from the actual design issues, which will be considered -- and aired publicly -- in the coming months. A new design report is due sometime in January, with public comment to be taken on the new design options in January and February.
The above graphic is taken from a December 4 discussion draft for the new design options, which in many ways signficantly alters the island and right-side platform designs. I'm not quite prepared yet to discuss it in depth, but by providing the graphic here, readers should be able to make the beginnings of a comparison on their own to the previously-released design options available at the revitalization project link above.
Meanwhile, TriMet itself yesterday also approved light rail on the transit mall, while Metro is expected to do the same next month.