8 • The Southwest Portland Post
NEWS
July 2015
Light rail tunnel to Portland Community College still under consideration
SOUTHWEST CORRIDOR PLAN
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
On July 13, the Southwest Corridor
Plan Steering Committee will ponder
whether several high capacity transit
alignments under consideration in
Southwest Portland will continue to be
studied as part of the project.
The proposed cut-and-cover tunnel to
Portland Community College Sylvania
will be decided in October after the
project team conducts additional
analysis this summer.
They plan to carry out more public
outreach to better understand impacts
and to learn more about future campus
plans.
If high capacity transit runs along
Barbur Boulevard, the most direct access
point to the campus would be 53rd
Avenue, which is currently unimproved
for the majority of its length.
Conceptual designs for a new
streetscape are now underway, focusing
on enhanced pedestrian and bicycle
facilities.
According to a Metro staff report, this
connection, paired with new frequent
service on the TriMet Line 44 bus,
would encourage more students to
select transit, which would reduce
parking demand on campus and traffic
in the surrounding neighborhoods.
N e i g h b o r s w h o l i v e o n 5 3 rd
Avenue said they are not happy and
have collected over 60 signatures
in opposition. The potential design
would require relocation of several
dozen residents in the Far Southwest
Neighborhood Association for at least
a year.
According to a May 2015 report from
Metro, “All surface features above the
tunnel alignment or the station must
be removed.”
“This means the loss of, or loss
of access to, nearly 45 homes and
businesses along Southwest 53rd
Avenue,” explained Far Southwest co-
chair Marcia Leslie.
According to Leslie, Far Southwest
residents have expressed support
for high capacity transit either along
Capitol Highway or Barbur Boulevard
but they have strong opposition to the
tunnel.
“In addition, the 53rd tunnel will be
twice as deep, requiring deeper shoring
walls and removal and replacement of
twice as much soil and twice as many
truckloads to haul it away and back,”
Today, Southwest 53rd Avenue is a
quiet, partially unpaved connection
between Barbur Boulevard and Portland
Community College Sylvania campus.
One of the options under consideration
would lay a light rail tunnel beneath the
street. (Photo courtesy Metro)
said Leslie.
Planners said they want more time
to explore whether a light rail or bus
rapid transit stop on Barbur Boulevard
could provide a practicable alternative
for serving the community college.
Shuttle buses or even a mechanized
“people mover” could feasibly help
bridge the half-mile distance to campus.
“The college has been increasingly
engaged in the project, and connecting
to PCC is an important goal,” Southwest
Corridor Plan manager Chris Ford
commented. “But there are notable
concerns about the impacts of a tunnel.”
“Several more months would allow
us more time to talk to the community
and PCC and work to see if there are
ways to reduce the impacts of tunnel
construction.”
Planners hope to identify a preferred
package with a short list of high
capacity transit route options, along
with supportive roadway, local bus,
bike and walking improvements, by
spring 2016.
The project will then enter a much
more detailed, federally-mandated
impact study before choosing a final
route in 2018.
Metro staff recommends axing
OHSU to Hillsdale light rail
tunnel
The staff proposed removing the
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to Hillsdale tunnel from further
consideration. They want to study other
ways of accessing Marquam Hill, where
the OHSU campus sits.
Comments at a Metro open house
held at Wilson High School, and from
online surveys, overwhelmingly said
the Hillsdale cut-and-cover tunnel
alignments were a bad deal. There will
be more studies for improving access to
the Hillsdale town center.
Planners said the impacts and costs of
deep-bored tunnels beneath Marquam
Hill and Hillsdale and a shorter loop
to serve just Hillsdale via Capitol
Highway/Bertha Boulevard are just
too great.
Staff noted that Hillsdale is already
well-served by frequent local buses, and
TriMet is planning improvements as part
of its Southwest Service Enhancement
Plan.
“Substantial construction impacts on
nearby neighborhoods and sensitive
medical facilities at OHSU,” Southwest
Corridor Plan manager Chris Ford said,
“drove the recommendation to remove
a Marquam Hill light rail tunnel from
further consideration.
Ford explained that the vibration and
physical damage to Duniway Park, for
the north portal construction site, and
the constant truck traffic over multiple
years in Lair Hill and Hillsdale were
major community costs.
“The price tag for this project alone
didn’t weigh the community costs,”
Ford confessed.
Instead, the plan will focus on Barbur
Boulevard or Naito Parkway. One idea
has proposed elevators or escalators
connecting to OHSU. This would
provide improved service to Marquam
Hill with fewer neighborhood impacts
and at lower costs. Stay tuned.
Want to contact Southwest Corridor
Plan staff? Call 503-813-7535 or email
swcorridorplan@oregonmetro.gov.
Dotted line is proposed tunnel from OHSU to Hillsdale. (Map courtesy of Metro)