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Portland is a PR machine for light rail & streetcar

Here are Some Facts About Portland Oregon          

Environmental Impact Statements

CRC

CRC Final EIS

Draft of CRC Final EIS

DEIS & Appendix in one pdf file (836 pages; 95 meg)   

Technical Reports:  125 files in 406 MEG zip (5000 pages)

 

 MILWAULKIE  

 

SDEIS in one pdf file (402 page 45meg)

   

Appendix in one pdf file (196 page 16meg)

 

 

EIS + FFGA for  Portland Area Light Rail Projects

 

 

Open

Project

DEIS

FEIS

SDEIS

FFGA

1986

Eastside (Banfield)

Vol1   Vol2

Download

NA

Download

1998

Westside

H

H

Download

Download

 

 

Airport (MAX red line - private project

H

H

 

      -

No Federal Money

 

Milwaukie to Vancouver (South/North)

Download

N/A

Download

 

2004

Interstate (North Corridor)

Was split from Milwaukie to Vancouver DEIS

H

Download

Download

 

2009

WES (Beaverton-Wilsonville)

 

 

 

 

 

2009

I 205 (I205/Mall South Corridor Phase I)

N/A

 

From Metro Web Site

 

H

 

Download

 

Under

construction

PMLRT (South Corridor Phase II)

Was split from Milwaukie to Vancouver DEIS

 

 

 

From Metro Web Site

From Metro

 

SDEIS in one pdf file (402 page 45meg)

Appendix in one pdf file (196 page 16meg)

 

 

 

Download

 

Planning

stage

CRC

DEIS & Appendix in one pdf file (836 pages; 95 meg)   

 

Technical Reports:  125 files in 406 MEG zip (5000 pages)

from the CRC

 

in four ZIP files:

All chapters (231 meg)

Appendices (77 meg)

Technical Reports (593M

Responses to Comments (zip-764 meg)

 

 

N/A

 

 

Not applied for as of Jun 2013

Sources: Trimet; METRO; Other

 

 

Details of Some Light Rail Votes

 

1996 - State wide light rail measure 32

On line voter’s guide description:

No. 32 -- AUTHORIZES BONDS FOR PORTLAND REGION LIGHT RAIL, TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS ELSEWHERE (Vote Yes or No)

 

RESULT OF "YES" VOTE: "Yes" vote authorizes lottery bonds for Portland region light rail, transportation projects outside Portland region.

 

RESULT OF "NO" VOTE: "No" vote rejects lottery bonds for Portland region light rail, transportation projects outside Portland region.

 

Results:

Vote result   Yes: 622,764 (46.9%)  No:704,907 (53.1%)

 

 

1998 -  Tri-met District Measure No. 26-74

SHORTENED SOUTH/NORTH LIGHT RAIL

QUESTION: Shall Tri-Met issue $475,000,000 general obligation bonds - if matching federal funds are approved - toward financing South/North light rail? If the bonds are approved, they will be payable from taxes on property or property ownership that are not subject to the limits of sections 11 and 11b, Article XI of the Oregon Constitution.

 

SUMMARY: In 1994, voters authorized issuing the same amount of bonds for almost the same purpose. That proposal included a link to Vancouver. This one does not. Because of this change, Tri-Met must seek voter approval to sell the bonds. The scale of the project will change from 21 miles to 16 miles, and it will terminate in Kenton district rather than Vancouver. Project estimated to cost $1.6 billion.

 

This proposed line would begin at Clackamas Town Center, follow Highway 224 through Milwaukie, cross Willamette River on a new bridge near Caruthers, proceed

from PSU down present transit mall to Union Station, cross Steel Bridge, and go north along I-5 and Interstate Avenue. (Final route may vary.)

 

Project may be built in phases. No bonds will be sold unless federal funds are approved. Also, other affected localities will be asked to contribute. These general obligation bonds will mature in up to 30 years. They will contribute to financing, acquisition, and construction costs.

 

Estimated average annual cost to taxpayers will be $25.00 per $100,000 assessed valuation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zz

 

 

 

 

What is the history of votes on light rail?

 

There have been a number of votes on funding light rail projects.

 

1990 A $125 million Westside ballot measure passed by 73 percent within the Portland region.9

Between 1994 and 1998, there were three Oregon votes and one Washington vote on the financing of a bi-state south-north light rail corridor. Each vote was different in its scope and nature, as described below:

 

1994 Voters in the TriMet service district approved Measure 26-13 with a 63% yes vote. A proposed $475 million bond measure would have built a 26-mile light rail line from Clackamas County into Clark County, Wash. The measure represented only one piece of the proposed funding. Other funds were anticipated from Clark County, the state of Washington, the state of Oregon and the federal government.

 

1995 In 1995, Clark County, Wash., voters rejected (2 to 1) a ballot measure that would have raised $237 million for the Washington portion of the south-north light rail line plus a 9-mile extension north from Vancouver to Hazel Dell.

 

1996 Following the Clark County defeat, TriMet and Metro restructured the southnorth light rail project and, in August 1995,the Oregon Legislature passed a $750 million transportation package. The pack-age included $375 million in lottery-backed bonds for the project and $375 million for rural transportation projects around the state. Opponents of the package gathered enough signatures to refer the package to voters as 1996 State Ballot Measure 32. In November 1996, Oregon voters rejected the legislative package by a vote of 53 percent to 46 percent. While the measure failed statewide, it was approved by a majority of the voters within the TriMet service area. TriMet then began to focus on an “Oregon only” extension.

 

1998 Measure 26-74 was placed on the November 1998 ballot for an Oregon-only project. The TriMet board called for a new vote on the south-north light rail line funding because the project no longer included an extension to Clark County as provided for in the 1994 proposal. The Oregon-only proposal was divided into two phases: phase I was the Rose Quarter to Milwaukie; and phase II was Milwaukie to Clackamas Town Center. The measure failed in Clackamas and Washington counties, however it passed in Multnomah County, failing overall (52

percent to 48 percent).

 

1999 In light of the failed 1998 measure, elected officials hosted “listening posts” throughout the region to find out how community members thought transportation needs in the south/north corridor ought to be addressed. The feedback led policy makers to move forward with a light rail project in the northern portion of the corridor with local funds (Interstate MAX, from 1999-2000). Also in 2000, a study of non-light rail options in the southern portion of the corridor began. 1999 An alliance of neighborhood and business groups from Southeast Portland and Milwaukie pushed Metro Council to reconsider light rail between Portland and Milwaukie and along I-205. They expressed support for light rail at the listening posts and other public meetings held in the corridor. 2002 An alternatives analysis of a wide range of transit options culminated in a supplemental draft environmental impact statement (SDEIS), which reviewed busway, bus rapid transit and light rail options. 2003 The 2002 SDEIS process concluded with adoption of a locally preferred alternative (LPA) in 2003. The LPA included a light rail alignment between Portland and Milwaukie as Phase II. Phase I called for reconstruction of the downtown Portland bus mall to accommodate light rail and construction of a light rail line on I-205 between I-84 and Clackamas Town Center.

 

 

Excerpted from the Trimet document at: media.oregonlive.com/commuting/other/projecthistory.pdf

1998-Measure 26-74 Tri-Met S/N Light Rail Bond

County

Yes

No

Yes%

No%

Multnomah

104,933

97,196

51.9

48.1

Washington

49,976

63,846.

43.9

56.0

Clackamas

36,627

47,218

43.7

56.3

TOTAL

191,536

208,260

47.9

52.1

Votes on Light Rail

Date

District

Rail line

Result

Measure

1990

Trimet

Westside

yes

 

1994

Trimet

Milwauke to Vancouver

yes

26-13

1995

Clark County

Vancouver portion of Milwauke to Vancouver

no

 

1996

State of Oregon

Milwauke to North Portland

no

32

1998

TriMet

Milwauke to North Portland

no

26-74

Sources: Trimet