MAX Red Line
The MAX Red Line is a light rail service in Portland, Oregon, United States, operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. It serves 26 stations between Beaverton and Portland, running predominantly east–west. An airport rail link, the line connects central Beaverton, Portland City Center, and Northeast Portland to Portland International Airport. From Beaverton Transit Center to Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center, the Red Line shares its route with the Blue Line and the Green Line; it then splits to a segment to Portland International Airport station, referred to as the Airport MAX extension. Service runs for 22 hours per day on a headway of at least 15 minutes daily. It is the second-busiest service in the MAX system, carrying an average of 22,530 passengers per weekday in September 2019.
Proposals for an airport light rail service surfaced in the mid-1980s and efforts were accelerated following Portland International Airport's rapid expansion in the 1990s. Conceived from an unsolicited proposal from engineering company Bechtel in 1997, the Airport MAX project was designed and built under a public–private partnership between a consortium of Bechtel and Trammell Crow, the Port of Portland, and local governments. The extension began construction in 1999 and was completed in just under two years due to local and private financing and the utilization of existing public right-of-way. The Red Line commenced service between downtown Portland and the airport on September 10, 2001. Amid strong westside ridership on the Blue Line, Red Line service was extended west along existing tracks to Beaverton Transit Center in 2003. TriMet is planning several improvements for the line, including a further extension west to Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport station in Hillsboro by 2024.
History
Background and partnership agreement
During the preliminary design phase of Interstate 205 in 1975, Portland transportation planners recommended downsizing the freeway and including right-of-way reserved for future transit; this was later realized as the I-205 Transitway. In 1986, transit plans by Metro regional government began calling for a light rail extension to Portland International Airport, which was then being served by TriMet buses, with construction projected to begin around 2010. Original plans envisioned a line running from the airport to Clackamas County along the I-205 Transitway and connecting with the existing light rail line of the Metropolitan Area Express at Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center. Later studies abandoned I-205 in favor of a route between Hazel Dell in Washington and Clackamas Town Center via downtown Portland. TriMet ultimately adopted this route and named it the South/North Line.The airport expanded rapidly in the 1990s as traffic increased from 6 million passengers in 1990 to 14 million passengers in 2000. Anticipating this growth, the Port of Portland embarked on a 20-year, $300 million phased expansion of the airport in November 1991 that expanded the main passenger terminal, rebuilt an existing concourse, and added a fifth concourse. The terminal expansion also reserved space for a future light rail station near the southern end of the arrivals hall and baggage claim area. In 1994, parking lots operating at 90 percent capacity and heavy vehicular traffic near the terminal entrances revealed that the Port's growth projections had failed to accommodate the surge in passenger traffic. As a result, the Port approached TriMet in the hope of accelerating plans to introduce light rail service to the airport.
TriMet had been preoccupied with the construction of the Westside MAX and had plans to pursue the South/North Line before it would consider extending rail service to the airport. In 1995, voters in Washington's Clark County thwarted TriMet's plans when they declined to fund their share of the South/North Line project. The following year, engineering firm Bechtel, seeking to acquire property near the airport, initiated discussions with the Port regarding the feasibility of an airport light rail line and assigned a former federal transit official employee to help develop a plan. The Port expressed its support of this unsolicited proposal in January 1997. For several more years, TriMet continued its efforts to revive the South/North Line until a failed ballot measure officially canceled it in 1998, forcing the agency to consider developing the airport light rail project instead.
After long deliberations, agreements were made between Bechtel, the Port, and local governments and agencies in October 1998. A part of the agreements authorized Bechtel to design and build a light rail extension to the airport and to fund a portion of the project in exchange for development rights to the Portland International Center, which was situated east of the airport. Bechtel later developed this commercially zoned property and renamed it Cascade Station. The project was accelerated with the establishment of a public–private partnership, which eliminated the need for Federal Transit Administration approval due to a lack of FTA funding. A preliminary engineering study commenced in December 1997. The following year, the Associated Builders and Contractors filed a petition in Multnomah County circuit court claiming that the contract awarded to Bechtel may have violated Oregon procurement laws. A judge ruled in favor of TriMet, declaring that the contract was awarded fairly.
Funding and construction
In July 1998, TriMet projected the Airport MAX extension to cost $125 million. Additional costs to purchase train sets and build related infrastructure raised this total to $182.7 million. Under U.S. federal regulations, the Port of Portland was able to fund only the portion of rail located within its property with approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. To solve this, the Port proposed dividing the project's financing into three parts, which the involved parties agreed to. The Port became responsible for the segment within airport property. The next of track, which ran through Cascade Station, went to private funding. TriMet, Metro, and the City of Portland covered the final along I-205.The Port contributed $28.3 million for construction and $20 million for terminal and road improvements; this was drawn from a $3 ticket fee paid by travelers. Delta Airlines, Reno Air, and United Airlines opposed the use of ticket fees; they contended that the extension would only serve a small number of airline passengers. The FAA approved the funding in May 1999. Cascade Station Development, a private consortium of Bechtel and real estate developer Trammell Crow, provided $28.2 million for the project and $13.1 million for the construction of an interchange over I-205 and Airport Way. TriMet released $27.5 million for construction, which was funded by $30 million in bonds, and procured six new rail cars for $6 million each. Metro allocated $18 million from a regional transportation fund. $23 million came from tax increment bonds issued by the City of Portland.
David Evans and Associates served as the project's prime engineer and lead designer. Much of the Airport MAX used public right-of-way owned either by the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Port, or TriMet. This avoided displacing any property owners and contributed to the line's rapid completion. Overall, the extension limited its impact to the elimination of 20 parking spaces at Gateway Transit Center and several others along Airport Way. Bechtel began construction in June 1999 on a segment next to I-205 near the Columbia Slough. Bridgework over the freeway commenced the following December. To minimize lane closures, workers used a cast-in-place concrete pouring method to extend the bridges' spans in increments. Work progressed quickly along the freeway segment due to the already-built I-205 Transitway, which accommodated a tunnel from Gateway Transit Center to the freeway median in anticipation of a busway that never materialized.
Track installation, which Bechtel contracted to Stacy and Witbeck, started in December 1999. To meet the project's deadline, workers placed of rail per day; tracks from Gateway Transit Center to the bridge over southbound I-205 were laid by July 2000. Hoffman Construction, the company selected by the Port to expand the airport terminal several years prior, built the $8.4 million Portland International Airport station. Local architecture firm Zimmer Gunsul Frasca designed the station's glass-roofed shelter to complement the airport terminal's then newly built drop-off canopy, which ZGF also designed. Bechtel began end-to-end testing of the power, trains, and signals in March 2001. TriMet took over the project that July to continue system testing and verify scheduling.
Opening and later extension
In 2000, TriMet named the new MAX service to the airport the "Red Line" to differentiate it from the established service between Hillsboro and Gresham, which it renamed the "Blue Line". The Airport MAX extension opened on September 10, 2001. Celebrations scheduled for September 15–16 were canceled in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, with the airport itself being closed for three days due to the ensuing nationwide ground stop. Upon opening, the Red Line terminated at the Library and Galleria stations in downtown Portland, where its trains turned around at the 11th Avenue loop tracks. It had replaced bus route 12–Sandy Boulevard as TriMet's only service to and from the airport. C-Tran moved its bus service from Vancouver across the Columbia River from its connection at Gateway Transit Center to Parkrose/Sumner Transit Center. Although tested during trial runs, TriMet opted to omit luggage racks from Red Line trains to maximize rider capacity. By November 2001, ridership averaged 2,300 riders and peaked at 3,800 riders a day before Thanksgiving holiday weekend. At that point, service had been using single light rail cars, but the influx of riders prompted TriMet to temporarily deploy two-car consists; it had not planned to do this until 2006.On September 1, 2003, TriMet extended Red Line service farther west using the existing Westside MAX tracks to Beaverton Transit Center. This was done in an effort to increase capacity between Gateway Transit Center and Beaverton, and to provide a one-seat ride to the airport for westside riders. Regular use of two-car trains on the line began in September 2005, when overcrowding prompted TriMet to change most Yellow Line service from two-car consists to single cars in order to convert the Red Line to two-car trains. On March 2, 2008, three trips in each direction during the morning and evening rush hours began operating between the and Portland International Airport stations to provide further additional capacity on the Blue Line amid growing ridership. TriMet reintroduced bus service to the airport with the 272–PDX Night Bus route on September 2, 2018. The bus route runs in the late night and early morning hours when the Red Line is not operating.
Future plans
In October 2017, TriMet announced plans to extend the Red Line from Beaverton Transit Center to Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport station in Hillsboro. The $206 million "Better Red" project will create a one-seat option from Portland International Airport to ten existing stations westbound from Beaverton Transit Center and establish a transit link between the Portland and Hillsboro airports. The ten stations are:,,,,, Willow Creek/Southwest 185th Avenue Transit Center,,,, and Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport. Additionally, TriMet plans to add a second track to existing single-track segments between the Gateway and Parkrose/Sumner transit centers, and between the and Portland International Airport stations. To accommodate new riders, TriMet will purchase six new light rail vehicles and upgrade the Ruby Junction maintenance facility in Gresham.Preliminary design work began in February 2018. The following month, the Hillsboro City Council authorized funds to study the effects of the extension on the existing MAX at-grade crossing at Southwest 185th Avenue. This may pave the way for grade separation in the future. TriMet adopted a locally preferred alternative in April 2019, allowing the agency to submit the plan to the FTA and request funding. On May 29, 2020, the FTA announced $99.99 million in funding for the project through the Capital Investment Grants program. Final design is expected to be completed in 2021. Construction is targeted to begin that same year and finish by 2024.
Portland International Airport station will be temporarily closed from March 29, 2020, until August 1 to make way for the expansion of the airport's Concourse B. Initially targeted to reopen on May 30 and close again from August 30 to November 4, TriMet updated the schedule as a result of flight cancellations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the closure, shuttle buses will carry riders from Mount Hood Avenue station to the passenger terminal. TriMet plans to utilize the closure to prepare for track improvements that will be part of the Better Red project.
Route
The Airport MAX extension, which the Red Line serves exclusively, is long. However, a majority of Red Line service travels along parts of the Eastside MAX and Westside MAX segments, where it runs alongside the Blue Line from Beaverton Transit Center to Gateway Transit Center, and the Green Line from Rose Quarter Transit Center to Gateway Transit Center. After Gateway Transit Center, the Red Line branches southwest, makes a 180-degree loop, and heads north along the east side of Interstate 205. Near Rocky Butte, the line enters a tunnel beneath the northbound lanes of the freeway and emerges on the median. Just south of the Columbia Slough, it turns north over southbound I-205 towards Cascade Station and curves northwest along the south side of Northeast Cascade Parkway. It follows this road then crosses it just before Mount Hood Avenue station. The line proceeds northwest along the south side of Northeast Airport Way until it reaches its terminus at Portland International Airport station.Although much of the Red Line runs along a double-track railway, two segments of the Airport MAX extension are single-tracked. The first segment starts near Gateway Transit Center and ends just north of Northeast Halsey Street. The other segment runs from south of the Northeast Airport Way and Northeast Airport Way Frontage Road intersection to just before the airport terminus. There are plans to add a second track to both segments by 2024 as part of the Better Red project.
Stations
The Airport MAX extension, which the Red Line serves exclusively, consists of four stations: Parkrose/Sumner Transit Center,, Mount Hood Avenue, and Portland International Airport. Red Line trains serve 26 stations total, of which 14, from Beaverton Transit Center to Old Town/Chinatown, are shared with the Blue Line. Eight more stations, between Rose Quarter Transit Center and Gateway Transit Center, are shared with both the Blue Line and the Green Line. Transfers to the Green, Orange, and Yellow lines via the Pioneer Courthouse and Pioneer Place stations are available by detraining at the Pioneer Square stations. An additional transfer to the Yellow Line via Interstate/Rose Quarter station can be made at Rose Quarter Transit Center. The Red Line also provides connections to local and intercity bus services at various stops across the line, the Portland Streetcar at four stops in and near downtown Portland, and WES Commuter Rail at Beaverton Transit Center.On March 1, 2020, TriMet closed three stations served by the Red and Blue lines in an effort to speed up travel times in downtown Portland. The Mall stations were permanently closed while Kings Hill/Southwest Salmon Street station will remain closed for a trial period ending March 1, 2021.