Last rails laid for Portland-Milwaukie LRT
Written by Douglas John BowenPortland, Ore.-based TriMet said Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 construction workers had welded the final rails of the Portland-to-Milwaukie light rail line, set to open in September 2015.
“This is the last piece of rail to be welded on the Portland-Milwaukie project that has created over 12,700 jobs and will provide improved transit in Clackamas County,” TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane told local media assembled at the welding site, at Southeast 21st Avenue and Adams Street in downtown Milwaukie, Ore., southeast of Portland.
Milwaukie Mayor Jeremy Ferguson agreed, thanking voters who approved a bond measure during last May’s primary election to pay for his city’s share of the project.
The 7.3-mile, $1.5 billion line extends TriMet’s LRT reach from Portland State University to Milwaukie and North Clackamas County, the latter experiencing some anti-rail sentiment in recent months. The line includes Tilikum Crossing, billed as the first multimodal bridge in the U.S. that will handle LRT, streetcars, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians, but not private automobiles.
The line will be served by Siemens S70 “Type 5” MAX light rail vehicles, unveiled last month by TriMet at its maintenance facility in Gresham, Ore.
