Southwest Corridor Conceptual Design, Area Planning, & Urban Design
Portland, OR
The Southwest Corridor Light Rail Project is key to shaping the future of the Portland region as it will move and connect people, provide transportation choices, maintain and create equitable communities, preserve and restore the natural environment, and build infrastructure for a sustainable future.
VIA is part of a Joint Venture (along with ZGF and Mayer Reed) for the SW Corridor alignment and station area planning, urban design, and architecture on this multi-year project. VIA’s role includes overall project management, drafting a public Conceptual Design Report to illustrate the overall project vision and scope, facilitating workshops with the 8 project partners, and developing materials for and attending open houses at each key project stage. The VIA scope also includes lead architecture and urban design for 7 new light rail stations in the City of Portland to 30% project development in coordination with the engineering design team. The project includes:
- 11-mile extension of the existing MAX Light Rail system. It will offer a 30-minute ride between Downtown Portland and Tualatin
- 13 stations located within the cities of Portland, Tigard, and Tualatin
- 10-miles of new sidewalks and crosswalks to improve comfort and promote walkable access to transit and local station area amenities.
- Over 6- miles of enhanced bicycle facilities and bike parking, including areas with shared streets, raised protected bike lanes, and protected intersections to encourage both bicycle commuting and access to transit.
- Up to 2,000 Park & Ride spaces along the alignment.
- 6-miles of shared transitway, allowing buses to travel within light rail guideway to enhance the speed, reliability, and convenience of bus routes serving Hillsdale and other Southwest communities.
- A new operations and maintenance facility in the City of Tigard.
- A connection to the Marquam Hill OHSU campus
- A new pedestrian bridge over SW Lower Boones Ferry Rd in Tualatin
- Planning up to 900 units of affordable housing along the corridor
In addition to station area planning and coordination with jurisdictional partners (Portland Metro, Cities of Portland, Tigard and Tualatin, Washington County, and ODOT) VIA is leading an integrated station access process. We are collaborating with Alta Planning and Design for an Active Transportation assessment, Fehr and Peers for a Mobility Market Suitability assessment, and working with discipline leads along the corridor to establish amenities within the project scope and estimate future potential, for TriMet to develop partnerships with other agencies and mobility providers. We are also working with EcoNW, ZGF, DAO, and Holst on a corridor-wide TOD assessment, looking at real estate market analysis and design feasibility to ensure the project can meet its commitment for up to 900 units of affordable housing.
VIA is also working closely with our engineering and design partners on the location, categorization and conceptual design of related system elements within the transit corridor including station platforms and associated amenities, park and rides, the operations and maintenance facility, systems and communications buildings, walls, ramps, stairs, overhead structures, and the guideway and public realm and landscape features including stormwater facilities.
The conceptual design report is available in its entirety on TriMet’s website, linked here (PDF warning).
