Construction to close nearby streets for 8 to 10 weeks

Southwest Fifth Avenue will be closed for eight to 10 weeks this fall, as light rail track work for the new MAX Green Line, running from Portland State to Clackamas in Southwest Portland, begins on campus.

The construction, scheduled to begin Oct. 8, includes tearing up existing concrete and paving new roads to accommodate the Green Line’s tracks and will take place between Southwest Harrison and Jackson streets, according to Kay Dannen, community relations manager for the Portland Streetcar and TriMet Personnel.

The Green Line is a planned new extension of the MAX light rail train system. The Green Line will run from Portland State to Clackamas Town Center and is scheduled to open in 2009.
Dannen said the sidewalks along Fifth Avenue will be repaved with the streets. There will be access ramps for crossing the gaps in Fifth Avenue’s sidewalks, allowing pedestrian traffic to move through the work zones at all times.

Construction crews will be working between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. on weekdays, with noise restrictions in place after 6 p.m.
Peggy LaPoint, public information officer for TriMet, said that the work will not be as invasive as one might imagine. She said that buildings near the construction zones will remain accessible.

“It’s not going to be too bad on campus during construction,” LaPoint said. “People are realizing that places won’t be boarded up and businesses aren’t out of reach. Plus, the work also gives pedestrians a great look at what construction crews are doing.”

Construction of the Green Line tracks along Sixth Avenue between Southwest Jackson and Harrison streets is scheduled to begin in January of 2008. The construction will be similar to the track work along Fifth Avenue, and Dannen said that Sixth Avenue will be closed to traffic during the eight- to 10-week construction period.

Dannen said she was unsure if TriMet would close the off ramp from Highway 26 to Sixth Avenue during next year’s construction. She said that TriMet has been planning to interfere with campus traffic and student life as little as possible, and that she has been in regular contact with PSU regarding the Green Line’s construction.

“I meet with PSU administrators on a regular basis, and we’ve been working hard to accommodate students as the Green Line is constructed,” Dannen said.

Ernest Tipton, campus planning manager, said that PSU has been working closely with TriMet to keep their construction schedules from conflicting. Tipton is managing the project to build a new recreation center, a facility that is being constructed near the Urban Center Plaza between Southwest Fifth and Sixth avenues, and he said that there has been careful planning to avoid clashing work zones on campus.

“Basically, whenever TriMet work is happening on Fifth, we’re working on Sixth, and vice versa,” Tipton said.

The total cost of the Green Line project is $575.7 million. The Green Line will have 21 cars in operation, according to Dannen. The line is expected to make stops downtown during business hours at least once every five minutes during weekdays, according to a TriMet fact sheet.

The new Green Line will run north and southbound along Southwest Fifth and Sixth avenues between Southwest Jackson and Northwest Hoyt streets. The new line will then cross the Willamette River on existing MAX tracks before turning south at the Gateway Transit Center and running alongside Interstate 205 to the Clackamas Town Center.

For more information and updates on the Green Line project, please visit:
www.trimet.org/i205