Early construction work begins on Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project
September 23, 2011
Early construction work for the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project will begin next week along SW Lincoln Street between 1st and 4th avenues. Up to 60 trees will be removed to widen the street for the project and relocate private and public underground utilities.
The street is being widened to accommodate light rail, two-way vehicle traffic, a westbound bicycle lane and two 12-foot-wide sidewalks. The trees will be salvaged, reused or made into firewood for low-income households. About 40 trees along Lincoln will be planted after light rail construction is complete.
- Construction will take place 7 a.m-6 p.m., Monday-Friday, for up to seven weeks.
- Two-way traffic will be maintained; all on-street parking has been permanently removed between 1st and 4th avenues.
- Access to buildings and driveways will be maintained.
- Depending on the work area, pedestrian traffic will be moved to only one side of the street, and crossings will be available at either SW 2nd or 3rd avenues.
- The three bus stops on Lincoln will be closed for up to two weeks starting on Monday, Sept. 26; signs will be posted to direct riders to nearby stops.
- Flaggers will be present to assist with local access.
- Following tree removal, temporary street light installation will take place.
Reuse and replacement of the trees
The removed trees will be reused in a variety of ways. The higher-quality wood will be salvaged and provided to furniture and structure builders, such as Habitat for Humanity. Large sections of trees will be reused as playground furniture for City of Portland parks. Remaining wood will be made into firewood for low-income households, or mulched for use in local parks and community gardens.
The 40 replacement trees to be planted along Lincoln Street will be purchased two years in advance, so they will be larger and more mature when planted. Along the entire 7.3-mile light rail alignment from downtown Portland to Clackamas County, up to 830 trees will be removed for the project, and approximately 2,000 trees will be planted.
Local companies, local jobs
The tree removal and reuse will be conducted by Harrity Tree Specialists Inc. of Portland, with assistance from City of Roses Disposal and Recycling Inc. and COAT Flagging, both based in Portland. Other early construction work will be conducted by Interlaken, Inc. of Gresham, Affordable Electric of Portland and Alamo Paving of Clackamas. City of Roses, COAT, Interlaken and Affordable Electric are Disadvantaged Business Enterprise contractors; Alamo Paving is an Emerging Small Business. In all, up to 30 people will work on this early construction package.
About the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project
The 7.3-mile project is the region's sixth MAX line to be built and extends from the terminus of the MAX Green and Yellow lines at Portland State University to South Waterfront, Southeast Portland, Milwaukie and Park Avenue in Clackamas County. The project includes 10 stations and the first bridge constructed over the Willamette River in more than 40 years. It will create up to 14,000 jobs and generate $573 million in personal earnings. Federal funds will pay for half of the $1.49 billion project, state and local partners are funding the balance. TriMet's share is less than 5 percent of the project budget and will not be needed until 2013. The line is set to open in fall 2015.
Project partners
Clackamas County, Metro, City of Milwaukie, Multnomah County, City of Oregon City, Oregon Department of Transportation, City of Portland, Portland Development Commission and TriMet.
For more information about the project, please visit trimet.org/pm.