South Waterfront Light Rail

From a TIS meeting the week of October 10 with Dee Ann Sandberg of the light rail project and the Stacey and Whitbeck team.

The new light rail will come from the East side, across a new bridge, to the waterfront (down closer to OHSU) and then north and cut up to run alongside Harbor Drive. Then it will go straight along the other side of Harbor Drive almost to just across from the streetcar stop and will then go up high and cut over Harbor up to Naito and then up Lincoln Street. It will cut through to Lincoln with the removal of the radio station which now stands across Naito. It will stop on Lincoln and 3rd and thus enable TIS families to commute from the East Side rather easily.

On November 1st they will begin using the stretch of ground up along Naito as a construction staging area for their trucks and equipment. They will create a gravel road whose entrance is behind the Hilltop Building and which will run down along Naito to the North where the staging area proper will be. Much further down along Naito almost to the area above the streetcar stop they will be drilling (and thankfully not pile driving) for the overpass that will bring the new light rail up and across Naito. At no point will the new light rail becoming very close to our campus, but it will come close enough to assist commuting.

The construction folks have been very focused on our needs and well being and they are aware of nap times, the necessity to keep dust down and so on. Resilient as we are and as open as they are to communication and concerns, we think this will work out fine. Above are some renderings of how it will look around us when the project is completed.