TriMet adjusts to MAX line cut

Federal funding falls short, leaving a $345 million gap

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, Jul 29, 2010 (9 Reader comments)

COURTESY OF TRIMET

This design has been selected for a new bridge to carry MAX trains and the Portland Streetcar between the South Waterfront and the city’s east side. TriMet says the estimated $135 million price tag for the bridge is already low and can't be cut, even though the entire project now has a $345 million funding gap.

Portland’s portion of the proposed 7.3-mile Milwaukie MAX line extension will probably be spared the brunt of any cuts caused by the federal government’s unexpectedly low contribution to the project.

According to TriMet officials, the most significant change could be a reduction of the 800-space park-and-ride lot near the east end of the Tacoma Street bridge. Other reductions – if they occur – could happen at the Milwaukie end of the line.

Just three weeks after Neil McFarlane became the new TriMet general manager, the Federal Transit Administration threw him a curve ball – it has agreed to finance only 50 percent of the new downtown-to-Milwaukie MAX light-rail line, not the 60 percent the agency had requested.

“The good news in the announcement is that the FTA said there is strong justification for the project and they will work with us on it,” McFarlane said. “Beginning today, we will start talking to our funding partners about our options. They include raising more local funds and resizing the project, but it is too early to say which way we will go.”

According to TriMet, the FTA has promised to fund 50 percent of the project, up to around $735.8 million. But state, regional and local governments have only committed to the original 40 percent in matching funds – about $600 million, TriMet says.

That means as of today, TriMet is only assured of around $1.2 billion for the project. But it is budgeted at around $1.545 billion – a difference of about $345 million.

That means TriMet and its funding partners must find up to another $135.8 million or so to qualify for the full federal share – and even with that, the project still would have to be trimmed by nearly $74 milion. The partners include the state, Metro, Clackamas County, Portland, Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University.

Portland does not have additional funds that it can immediately pledge for the project, according to Roy Kaufmann, a spokesman for Mayor Sam Adams. Instead, Kaufmann says the city will work with the Oregon congressional delegation to secure more federal funds. The city also will work with TriMet staff to see how the project can be recalibrated.

Kaufmann says that one of the FTA’s reasons for limiting its share to 50 percent – that reason being competition for the money – proves that the project will benefit the region. TriMet was one of the first transit agencies to build new rail lines. Now many other regions are planning similar projects and vying for scarce federal funds.

“Other regions now recognize the environmental and economic development benefits of transit projects,” Kaufmann says.

Logical places to cut

Regardless of what happens, however, downtown and inner eastside Portland sections of the line will probably not be affected much. The line has to connect at the southern terminus of the downtown MAX line near Portland State University that opened last year.

The route to South Waterfront has only one station on Southwest Lincoln Street between Second and Third avenues. There is only one stop in South Waterfront next to the new campus planned by OHSU. The new Willamette River bridge from the OHSU station to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry has to be built to connect South Waterfront to the inner eastside. And MacFarlane says the $135 million budgeted for the bridge is already the minimum for such a structure.

There are only seven other stations planned for the rest of the line – five in Southeast Portland, one in Milwaukie and one in Oak Grove. MacFarlane says the Portland stations are the minimum needed to serve that part of town. The Milwaukie station is a must, since reaching that Clackamas County station is the long-standing goal of the line.

That leaves only a few logical places to cut along the line. One is the extension from the Milwaukie station to Oak Grove, which could be delayed. Or the 600-space park and ride facility at the Oak Grove station could be reduced. The 800-space park and ride facility at the Tacoma Street station, on the eastern edge of Sellwood, also could be reduced.

Beyond that, McFarlane says some items that are not directly related to the route could be cut. For example, TriMet could buy just the bare minimum number of new rail cars needed for the line on opening day. Additional cars could be purchased as demand grows. New maintenance facilities also could be trimmed back, along with amenities at the stations.

McFarlane says it is too soon to know whether local governments will commit more funds to the project or whether it must be cut the full $345 million. MacFarlane suspects closing the gap will require both additional local funds and budget cuts, and he promises there will be time for public comment before the final decision.

Basics of the proposed route

The proposed Portland-to-Milwaukie light rail project would be TriMet’s sixth MAX line in the region. The 7.3-mile extension will run from Portland State University through South Waterfront and Southeast Portland to Milwaukie and Oak Grove in North Clackamas County.

It includes the first new Willamette River bridge in 35 years, carrying MAX trains, TriMet buses, Portland Streetcars, bicyclists and pedestrians between South Waterfront and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Plans call for the construction of seven new stops at the following locations:

• Southwest Lincoln Street Station between Second and Third avenues at the southern end of downtown Portland.

• South Waterfront Station adjacent to the site of the future OHSU South Waterfront Campus

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