MAX BLUE LINE

The 'MAX Blue Line' is a 33 mile (53 km) light rail route in the MAX Light Rail system in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. The route runs between Hillsboro and Gresham, via downtown Portland.

Contents

Eastside MAX

Westside MAX

Stations

References

External links

Eastside MAX

In the mid 1970s, TriMet began a study for light rail using funds intended for the cancelled Mount Hood Freeway. The light rail project was known as the 'Banfield Light Rail Project', named for the freeway (I-84) that part of the alignment followed. Voters approved funding for the project, but Gresham officials and businesses rejected the project until a slight routing change was agreed to. The 15 mile (24 km) route started construction in 1981 and opened in September 1986. This part of the route is called the 'Eastside MAX' today. The Eastside MAX has spawned over $2 billion in development and redevelopment along its route.

Westside MAX

In 1992, Portland area voters approved funding for the 'Westside MAX' line after the success of the Eastside MAX. It was originally conceived as a line between downtown Portland and 185th Avenue in Beaverton, but was later in the planning process extended to Hillsboro.^[1] Much of the right-of-way used in Beaverton and Hillsboro reused a route first constructed for the Oregon Electric Railway.
Construction started in 1994, and a half-mile extension between Southwest 10th Avenue and Kings Hill (Southwest 18th Avenue at Southwest Salmon Street) opened in August 1997. This extension was going to include the rest of the originally-planned segment, but was delayed by tunneling problems. Instead, it was opened along with the section from Beaverton to downtown Hillsboro in September 1998.
The line drew strong ridership, and beat 2005 ridership projections nineteen months after the line opened. As of 2004,^[2] the Westside MAX has served as a magnet for $825 million worth of residential and commercial development, including 8,500 housing units launched within walking distance of the line.

Stations

'MAX Blue Line (Hillsboro-Gresham)'

Name	Opening Year	Interchange	Municipality	Fare Zone	Park and Ride?
Hatfield Government Center	1998		Hillsboro	3	Yes
Hillsboro Central/3rd Avenue Transit Center	1998		Hillsboro	3	No
Tuality Hospital/Southeast 8th Avenue	1998		Hillsboro	3	No
Washington/Southeast 12th Avenue	1998		Hillsboro	3	No
Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport	1998		Hillsboro	3	Yes
Hawthorn Farm	1998		Hillsboro	3	No
Orenco/Northwest 231st Avenue	1998		Hillsboro	3	Yes
Quatama/Northwest 201st Avenue	1998		Hillsboro	3	Yes
Willow Creek/Southwest 185th Avenue Transit Center	1998		Hillsboro	3	Yes
Elmonica/Southwest 170th Avenue	1998		Washington County	3	Yes
Merlo Road/Southwest 158th Avenue	1998		Beaverton	3	No
Beaverton Creek	1998		Beaverton	3	Yes
Millikan Way	1998		Washington County	3	Yes
Beaverton Central	1998		Beaverton	3	No
Beaverton Transit Center	1998	'MAX Red Line' 'Future Commuter Rail'	Beaverton	3	No
Sunset Transit Center	1998	'MAX Red Line'	Washington County	3	Yes
Washington Park	1998	'MAX Red Line'	Portland	1	No
Goose Hollow/Southwest Jefferson Street	1998	'MAX Red Line'	Portland	1	No
Kings Hill/Southwest Salmon	1997	'MAX Red Line'	Portland	1	No
''The route enters a transit mall, with separate westbound and eastbound tracks.''
PGE Park (originally Civic Stadium)	1997	'MAX Red Line'	Portland	1	No
Library/Southwest 9th Avenue (eastbound); Galleria/Southwest 10th Avenue (westbound)	1986	'MAX Red Line' 'MAX Yellow Line' 'Portland Streetcar'	Portland	1 Fareless Square	No
Pioneer Square South (eastbound); Pioneer Square North (westbound)	1986	'MAX Red Line' 'MAX Yellow Line'	Portland	1 Fareless Square	No
Mall/Southwest 4th Avenue (eastbound); Mall/Southwest 5th Avenue (westbound)	1986	'MAX Red Line' 'MAX Yellow Line'	Portland	1 Fareless Square	No
Yamhill District (eastbound); Morrison/Southwest 3rd Avenue (westbound)	1986	'MAX Red Line' 'MAX Yellow Line'	Portland	1 Fareless Square	No
''The route exits a transit mall.''
Oak Street/Southwest 1st Avenue	1986	'MAX Red Line' 'MAX Yellow Line'	Portland	1 Fareless Square	No
Skidmore Fountain	1986	'MAX Red Line' 'MAX Yellow Line'	Portland	1 Fareless Square	No
Old Town/Chinatown	1986	'MAX Red Line' 'MAX Yellow Line'	Portland	1 Fareless Square	No
Rose Quarter Transit Center	1986	'MAX Red Line'	Portland	1 Fareless Square	No
Convention Center	1986	'MAX Red Line'	Portland	1 Fareless Square	No
Northeast 7th Avenue	1986	'MAX Red Line'	Portland	1 Fareless Square	No
Lloyd Center/Northeast 11th Avenue	1986	'MAX Red Line'	Portland	1 Fareless Square	No
Hollywood/Northeast 42nd Avenue Transit Center	1986	'MAX Red Line'	Portland	2	No
Northeast 60th Avenue	1986	'MAX Red Line'	Portland	2	No
Northeast 82nd Avenue	1986	'MAX Red Line'	Portland	2	No
Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center	1986	'MAX Red Line'	Portland	3	Yes
East 102nd Avenue	1986		Portland	3	No
East 122nd Avenue	1986		Portland	3	Yes
East 148th Avenue	1986		Portland	3	No
East 162nd Avenue	1986		Portland / Gresham	3	No
East 172nd Avenue	1986		Gresham	3	No
East 181st Avenue	1986		Gresham	3	Yes
Rockwood/East 188th Avenue Transit Center	1986		Gresham	3	No
Ruby Junction/East 197th Avenue	1986		Gresham	3	No
Gresham Civic	not open		Gresham	3	No
Gresham City Hall	1986		Gresham	3	Yes
Gresham Central Transit Center	1986		Gresham	3	Yes
Cleveland Avenue	1986		Gresham	3	Yes

References

1. C. Michael Hogan, Kay A. Ransom, Marc Papineau et al., ''Portland to Beaverton Light Rail System Environmental Impact Statement'', Earth Metrics Inc., prepared for Metro (1984)
2. http://www.trimet.org/pdfs/history/railfactsheet-westside.pdf (page 3)

External links

★ MAX Blue Line, from the TriMet website

★ Oregon Electric Railway Westside Corridor, part of the right-of-way for Westside MAX, from the Library of Congress