Two underutilized MAX stations in downtown Portland will permanently close next week, and a third will shutter for a one-year trial period.

TriMet decided in July that it would close multiple stations, an unprecedented decision in the transit agency’s history. Staff pitched the station closures as a way to speed up transit commuters through the downtown core. Some stations were within 500 feet of the next stop.

The Mall/SW 4th and SW 5th Avenue stops will no longer be in operation March 1. Kings Hill/SW Salmon, a little-used stop between the Goose Hollow and Providence Park stations, will shut down for a one-year trial period.

The transit agency’s volunteer board opted not to close a fourth station, at Skidmore Fountain, following vocal opposition from Portland Saturday Market, the University of Oregon, Mercy Corps, and county political and nonprofit social service providers.

TriMet pledged to keep Skidmore Fountain’s station open for at least three years to study ridership there.

March 1 also marks some other service changes on the tri - county system. Collectively, TriMet said, the changes will bring more weekend buses and earlier and later weekday service.

The service changes were funded in part by the 2017 statewide transportation package and local payroll taxes.

Other highlights include:

- Line 20, which runs broadly along Burnside and Stark between Gresham and Beaverton’s transit centers, has been upgraded to a frequent service bus route. Buses will now run every 15 minutes or less on that route, “most of the day” and every day.

- Line 76 between Beaverton and Tualatin is also a new frequent service route.

- Line 42, a suburban route that used to run between Tigard and Beaverton Transit Center, is going away. A newly configured Line 78 will assume that route and also continue to its existing terminus in Lake Oswego. That change will boost weekday service while adding weekend buses, officials said.

- Eighteen other bus routes will see either additional bus service or slightly altered routes to avoid ongoing construction or congestion or other issues.

- MAX schedules are also being tweaked by several minutes in some cases in response to the downtown station closures and to accommodate transfers between other light-rail lines.

Riders should check out the TriMet website before planning travel.

-- Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen

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