MAX light rail trains will run down the center of Barbur Boulevard for a five mile stretch (Noble Guyon/The Oregonian)

Leah Robbins has worked at TriMet for 25 years and helped the transit agency design and engineer light rail projects through downtown Portland and into Milwaukie, but her current assignment is a different challenge.

Robbins is TriMet’s project director for its proposed light rail extension through Southwest Portland to Bridgeport Village in Washington County.

"Everything is bigger," Robbins said while on a media tour Wednesday of the proposed 12-mile transit extension. The estimated $2.7 billion light rail line would transform a swath of Southwest Portland and the Tigard/Tualatin area. The trip between Bridgeport Village and Portland State University's southernmost station is projected to take 30 minutes.

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The light rail route runs from downtown Portland to Bridgeport Village (Courtesy of TriMet)

Everything is a bit more complex, too. The 13 stations between downtown and the suburban shopping center traverse undulating and occasionally meandering terrain. The route goes through suburban industrial zones, residential neighborhoods and adjacent to railroad tracks. The light rail line will be elevated above existing roads or creeks at times and cross Interstate 5 twice at various sections before running down the middle of Barbur Boulevard and into downtown Portland.

While touring the area, it’s difficult to envision it all. It’s also likely years away. If all the money is approved, construction would begin in 2022 and finish by 2027.

Here are some things to know today:

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Officials from TriMet and Metro transportation gave a tour of the proposed route for the new Southwest Corridor Light Rail MAX line. The tour included proposed routes, as well as building locations for stations and tracks along the route. The route is slotted to be complete in 2027. (Noble Guyon/ The Oregonian)

Money: The current estimate puts the project at a $2.7 billion price tag, and that doesn't include infrastructure projects along the route, such as reconfiguring the Ross Island Bridge's on- and off-ramps on the west side, a projected $80 million to $150 million project that would transform the surrounding neighborhood. Estimates also don't include costs to replace the Newberry and Vermont Street bridges on Barbur Boulevard (federal funding and state money could come into play there). TriMet is similarly banking on a hodgepodge of money to fund the entire project. The region will request $1.25 billion from the federal government and amass the same figure locally. Metro has already chipped in $60 million.

TriMet, Washington County and the city of Portland will be asked to pay $75 million apiece. TriMet is requesting $150 million from the state, with the first $25 million chunk being debated during the current Legislative session. Robbins said that left $850 million as the line-item amount likely to be included in upcoming 2020 Metro transportation package headed to voters for approval. Even if all that money comes in, Robbins said, the project is facing a potential $358 million funding gap, and project costs could go higher next year once preliminary engineering estimates are updated.

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One of the stations on the route, at Bonita, near where the train will run adjacent to railroad tracks (Noble Guyon/The Oregonian)

Stations: TriMet expects to know more about what the 13 stations planned along the route may look either later this year or in early 2020. Even without conceptual designs, though, the agency said it knew some stations would be busier than others. The planned station at Hall Boulevard will likely be the busiest, given its proximity to the Tigard Transit Center and passengers transferring from buses. A station at Southwest 53rd Avenue could be transformative, given that Portland plans to completely rebuild and expand that road, which runs up a hillside, as a connection to Portland Community College's Sylvania campus.

City and transit planners also envision the Barbur Boulevard Transit Center station as a critical site. City officials are calling that location the West Portland Town Center, and they will spend the next year discussing what to do with the property, which sits adjacent to the freeway and in a diverse neighborhood that may be at risk of displacement. Planners want to potentially include affordable housing at that station site, currently home to a park and ride lot, and make the area more walkable.

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The route is a meandering and undulating one and will carve through industrial lands, residential neighborhoods and other developed areas of Washington County and Southwest Portland (Noble Guyon/The Oregonian)

Bike Lanes: How do you like riding bikes up, or downhill? TriMet and the city plan to build 5 miles of physically protected bike lanes on Barbur Boulevard between downtown Portland and the Barbur Boulevard Transit Center. Those bike lanes, city officials say, will connect with similar facilities set to be built on Capitol Highway to give a safe and easy connection from the future MAX station to Multnomah Village.

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The Barbur Boulevard Transit Center is envisioned as one of the most critical sites on the 12-mile route (Noble Guyon/The Oregonian)

Wider Barbur: The MAX trains will run down the center of Barbur Boulevard, eating up 32 feet of roadway. How will the agency do that without eliminating travel lanes, you ask? Plans call for widening Barbur Boulevard in order to add the bike lanes and sidewalks throughout the project area while also maintaining two traffic lanes in both directions. To do this, Barbur will have to be widened for more than five miles. That will mean more displaced businesses and houses along the route.

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Noble Guyon/ The Oregonian

Businesses and Homes: TriMet said it wasn't sure how many homes and businesses would be displaced along the meandering route, but those figures should come into focus in early 2020 when the agency releases its final environmental impact statement for the project. Previous planning estimates indicated anywhere from 78 to 293 homes or apartments would need to be bought and displaced. Some 106 to 156 businesses were to be moved, according to the draft environmental impact statement. But those figures may change as plans crystallize and a final environmental impact statement is published in early 2020.

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Dylan Rivera, a PBOT spokesman and Eryn Kehe with Metro, speak at the site of what could be the largest park and ride structure on the 12-mile route. The park and ride at Bridgeport Village could be as big as 900 spaces and will include a pedestrian bridge spanning Lower Boones Ferry Road to connect drivers to the MAX station at the shopping complex (Noble Guyon/The Oregonian)

Parking: TriMet wants to hear from the public about what it should do for drivers along the route. The park and ride plan could range from spreading out parking lot throughout the station area to a proposal to build two large parking structures at the Bridgeport Village and 68th Avenue stops specifically. Those buildings could range from 401 spaces to as much as 950, according to early proposals. A third option would be to keep the existing park and ride lots as they are with the same number of spaces. All told the plan could include up to 3,500 parking spaces.

According to its website, the parking lot would cost $52,000 per parking space, compared to $18,000 for a surface lot. There are currently 12,614 park and ride spaces across the tri-county area. The transit agency has a survey online with more questions about what to do with parking through the southwest corridor. It plans on making a recommendation in September on what plan to pursue.

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Noble Guyon/The Oregonian

Tigard Triangle: Light rail will also, potentially, mean scores of new development opportunities in a far-flung part of 500 acre known as the Tigard Triangle. Broadly, it's the area bordered by Oregon 217 to the west, Oregon 99W to the north and I-5 to the east. Tigard officials see having two MAX stops in the triangle (at Elmhurst and 68th Avenue) as a huge nugget for growth. The city expects 20 projects in the urban renewal area it created, with a maximum tax increment financing cost of $180 million.

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-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen

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