East County must push for future light-rail lines

The Gresham Outlook, Apr 4, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

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Two meetings being held in Gresham today (Saturday, April 4) are allowing citizens to weigh in on whether they want more light-rail lines to serve the region over the next 20 to 30 years and — if so — specifically where would they like the new MAX lines to operate.

We think the answer to the first question is an obvious, but somewhat qualified, “yes.” No matter what people believe philosophically about mass transit, it has become quite apparent that the economy of the future will reward those metropolitan areas that invest in transportation in general, and specifically in high-capacity transit.

The second question, however, requires a bit more pondering and strategic thinking. Presumably, any additional light-rail lines will follow on the heels of current or budding plans to extend MAX to Milwaukie and then to Vancouver.

Three possible East County routes

From our perspective, once the Milwaukie and Vancouver lines are complete — and that will take years — transportation planners should look away from central Portland and toward providing better linkage in the suburbs.

For example, at least three potential corridors in East Multnomah and Clackamas counties have been identified:

• One would take off from the existing MAX line terminus to link with Mt. Hood Community College and Troutdale, and then turn west to serve the job-rich industrial areas between Interstate 84 and the Columbia River.

• Another would head south from Gresham Central Station to Damascus and then travel west to Clackamas.

• And a third corridor would also depart from Gresham Central Station and roughly follow the path of Powell Boulevard toward Portland.

The first of these two corridors — because they would provide north-south as well as east-west mobility — ought to be the leading priorities for East County residents. But while it may seem these are relatively easy questions to respond to, their overall consideration and advocacy is in many ways significantly more difficult.

For one, adding MAX service is not cheap. Two or three new MAX lines could end up costing more than $2.7 billion and would use up as much as 30 percent of the funding required for all transportation projects needed in the Portland region during that time. Plus, light rail is not the exclusive solution for all the region’s needs.

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