# Southwest Corridor (TriMet)

The Southwest Corridor is a proposed public transportation rail line in and near Portland, Oregon for TriMet's MAX Light Rail.
TriMet has now decided in the seen plans in Forward Together 2.0.

## History

The Portland metropolitan area's regional government, Metro, adopted its 2035 Regional Transportaton Plan in June 2010 where it identified a segment of OR 99W between Portland and Sherwood as the region's next highest-priority "high-capacity transit" corridor.$^{:2–46}$$^{:1}$ In January 2011, The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) granted Metro $2 million to begin studying the formally named "Southwest Corridor". The funds focused on the assessment of various mode alternatives, including light rail, commuter rail, streetcar, and bus rapid transit. The Southwest Corridor Plan officially launched that September, formalizing the development of a unified transportation plan between the involved communities and jurisdictions.$^{:1}$ In June 2013, the project steering committee selected light rail and bus rapid transit as the alternatives for further consideration.$^{:2}$ Citing a lack of present and future demand, the steering committee eliminated further planning using the alternatives to Sherwood. They also rerouted the proposed alignment in Tigard through the Tigard Triangle in response to local opposition to the removal of auto lanes from OR 99W.$^{:3}$
In June 2014, the steering committee determined a refined route for further study that ran from the southern end of the Portland Transit Mall in downtown Portland to just east of Tualatin station in downtown Tualatin;$^{:6–7}$ this route was later shortened to terminate at Bridgeport Village. The following year, proposals to serve Marquam Hill and Hillsdale with tunnels were dropped from the plan because they would be too costly, have severe construction impacts, and attract few new transit riders. In May 2016, the steering committee selected light rail as the preferred mode alternative over bus rapid transit. They also removed a tunnel to PCC Sylvania from further consideration. After passing a measure requiring voters to approve the construction of any high-capacity transit built within city limits, Tigard voters approved the light rail extension the following September.
At an estimated cost of $2.6 billion to $2.9 billion, the project was included in a regional transportation funding measure called "Get Moving 2020". In light of a budget gap of $462 million, planners proposed reducing lanes on Barbur Boulevard and shortening the line's route to terminate in downtown Tigard. Both proposals were rejected in November 2019. Private negotiations, as well as Metro's approval to increase the project's requested budget by $125 million in the 2020 ballot measure, reduced the budget gap to around $100 million. On November 3, 2020, voters rejected the measure. Had it been approved, the extension would have begun construction in 2022 and opened by 2027. It had been expected to serve approximately 37,500 riders by 2035.

## Proposed route

The proposed route stretches from:
* The Portland Transit Mall in Downtown Portland
* Southbound following Barbur Boulevard and Interstate 5
* Barbur Transit Center
* Stations near Portland Community College Sylvania Campus
* A station near Tigard Transit Center
* Terminus at Bridgeport Village Mall
The rail line would go through the cities of Tigard and Tualatin.

## Stations

TriMet proposes stations at:
* Portland State University/Portland Transit Mall
* SW Gibbs Street (Oregon Health & Science University/Portland Aerial Tram)
* SW Hamilton Street
* SW 13th Street
* SW 19th Street
* SW 30th Street
* Barbur Boulevard Transit Center
* SW 53rd Avenue (Portland Community College Sylvania Campus)
* SW 68th Parkway
* Elmhurst
* SW Hall Boulevard (Tigard Transit Center)
* SW Bonita Road (Portland Temple)
* SW Upper Boones Ferry Road
* Bridgeport