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The MAX train links Hillsboro with Portland and several other communities.

(Staff/File)

It doesn't take a demographer to point out that Tigard, the suburb southwest of Portland, has grown at a torrential rate. Just try driving through it at peak hours on Highway 99, Interstate 5, or Highway 217: Traffic thickens in some places for hours, making clear that the roadway system built in decades past is easily overwhelmed by today's needs.

While tomorrow's needs are not precisely known, the numbers from Metro, by way of Portland State University, are humbling: The city of nearly 50,000 residents is projected to approach 70,000 by the year 2040, bloating Tigard's population by nearly 40 percent. That's a far greater rate of expansion than projected for other nearby and prosperous Washington County suburbs such as Sherwood, at 8 percent; Beaverton, at 10 percent; and even Intel-centric Hillsboro, at a whopping 32 percent.

This is good news, however, for the once-bucolic Tigard. The city sees new construction and robust commerce that bolster a longstanding sense of civic pride. And yet Tigard is hardly self-contained. The Tigard Chamber of Commerce calculates that more than 20,000 Tigard residents leave Tigard each day for work while thousands of others commute into Tigard to work. Plainly, the place is a nexus - not an island - situated along a southwesterly axis extending from downtown Portland all the way to Sherwood.

That's why voters should say Yes to Measure 34-255, approving an authorization ordinance allowing the extension of light rail into Tigard - as in a MAX train that could run from Portland through Tigard to Bridgeport Village, at the city's southeast corner. The vote matters not only to Tigard but the broader region of which Tigard is a part.

Significantly, a yes vote would do nothing more than clear the way for Tigard to commit to a plan. TriMet and others correctly view a MAX train through Tigard as a rational step in expanding the region's rail connectivity while helping Tigard avoid inevitable gridlock. No money is involved at this point.

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reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom.

are Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung, Mark Katches, John Maher and Len Reed.

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Anti-Portland sentiment has crept into suburban politics in recent years. It was seen most pointedly in Clackamas County elections in which a billboard slogan for county commission candidates screamed "Stop Portland Creep" and in which commissioners later tried but failed to reverse their predecessors' commitment to help pay for a MAX line connecting Portland to the county. A 2014 charter amendment in Tigard, written and backed in part by folks from outside Tigard yet approved by Tigard voters, stipulates that the city is opposed to light rail service without voter approval otherwise.

This is the moment for voters to approve otherwise. Tigard must get on with meeting the opportunities and hazards of its growth.

Funding - and Tigard's share of it - is yet to be on the table. Hefty federal and regional grants must first be secured for a rail line that would cost up to $2.8 billion, with a possible call by TriMet for a regionwide tax to support light rail expansion as well as other road projects. Tigard would be a local contributor of yet-unknown scale, but its financial position is protected against runaway commitments: The city's charter also asks voters to step in and approve or reject any move by the City Council to consider taxes or fees to fund such a project.

The southwest suburbs bring prosperity and diversity, increasingly, to the growing Portland metropolitan region. Tigard plays a big part in it. A yes vote on Measure 34-255 ensures Tigard and its neighbors will be free to adapt and build upon their successes, strengthening not only themselves but the entire region.

-The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board

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