May 2015
NEWS
The Southwest Portland Post • 3
Technical advisory committee considers 2025 rapid transit & tunnels
SOUTHWEST CORRIDOR PLAN
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
On Portland’s first 80 degree day of
the year, over three dozen community
members sat patiently to hear technical
updates from all parties involved with
the Southwest Corridor Plan.
N o e l l e D o b s o n , M e t ro ’ s n e w
community engagement specialist,
vowed to facilitate the large group to
make sure everyone was heard and
answers provided.
“ We w a n t t o l o o k f o r m o r e
opportunities,” Dobson began, “to
engage the community with their
questions, look at upcoming meeting
schedules, and to provide ways to offer
input.”
Southwest Corridor Plan
Community Forum is scheduled
for Tuesday, May 12 from 6 to
8:30 p.m. at Wilson High School
(cafeteria)
To this reporter, who grabbed the
many packets of information upon
arriving, hours and hours could be
spent dissecting them for Post readers
to decipher.
There are so many documents in
fact they can overwhelm the most
literate. Key impact issues for Hillsdale,
Portland Community College, and
South Portland are posted online.
Tunnel information and alignment
modifications based on technical
analysis are also available.
Add these to budget proposals and
TriMet’s refined service enhancement
plan. Seven different cities need to
weigh in as well as Washington County,
Oregon Department of Transportation,
TriMet, and Metro.
Finally, the Federal Highway
p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at
the Wilson High School
cafeteria.
The following
day, results will be
published online, then,
a second comment
period will be available
June 2-16.
What was on most
everyone’s minds was
whether tunnels would
be in the picture or not,
and then if they would
be a cut-and-cover type,
much shallower, or
the deeply bored kind
like the MAX tunnel
that runs underneath
Washington Park and
the Oregon Zoo.
Darrell Wendell, a
TriMet tunnel expert,
was on hand to explain
the ins and outs of
tunneling. Wendell has
also worked in Seattle
on a major tunnel
project.
“Tunnels must have
East end of Robertson Tunnel at Canyon Road/Jefferson Street.
p
o
r t a l s , ” We n d e l l
Above light rail tunnel is Washington Park.
explained,
“to allow
(Photo by EncMstr, August 2007, courtesy Wikipedia)
equipment, staging,
and access.”
Administration needs to sign off on
So far, TriMet has recommended one
everything after a Draft Environmental
tunnel
portal be placed at Duniway
Impact Statement is submitted in
Park,
near
PSU; the other near the Rieke
January 2017.
Elementary
sports field.
According to Dobson, construction is
Wendell
went
on to say that it is quite
still 10 to 20 years away.
uncertain
what
all
this would look like
Concerned readers should focus
until
excavation
actually
began.
their time becoming familiar with
what pertains to their particular
neighborhood, expertise, or main
apprehension.
Metro staff members are developing
a memo for early May 2015 that will
present geotechnical findings, ridership
and travel time results, costs estimates,
and potential disruptions that are likely
to occur during construction.
There will be a comment period
from May 5-19. A community forum
will be held on Tues., May 12, from 6
“We’re dealing with fault lines, water
tables, and who knows what else,”
Wendell said. “Of course disruptions
may occur such as vibrations, and some
ground settling, but our equipment
measures all of these.”
Anthony Buczek, a Metro traffic
engineer, explained mitigating traffic
solutions which would involve timing
of traffic lights, new turn lanes, and new
sidewalks.
“We have projected traffic issues
by the year 2035 or 2040,” Buczek
quantified with detailed maps and
numbers spit out by a computer
(Continued on Page 6)
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