About the Project

The Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project will create a light rail alignment that travels 7.3 miles, connecting Portland State University in downtown Portland, inner Southeast Portland, Milwaukie and north Clackamas County. The project itself will create up to 14,500 jobs and generate up to $573 million in personal earnings.

MAX service on the alignment is scheduled to begin in 2015. By 2030, this future light rail line will carry up to an average of 27,400 weekday rides, and there will be approximately 22,000 households and 85,000 employees within walking distance of Portland-Milwaukie light rail stations.

Simulation Gallery

These visual simulations will appear in the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project Final Environmental Impact Statement to be published by Metro in summer 2010. These simulations are not final project designs but conceptions of tracks, trains and some project elements based on Preliminary Engineering (25% design set) and are subject to change. Final project design will not be complete until 2012.

South Corridor Project

The South Corridor Project—led by Metro in partnership with TriMet, the City of Portland, the City of Milwaukie and Clackamas County—has worked to identify transportation options for the fast-growing I-205 and Milwaukie/Oregon City corridors. When the study began in 1999, light rail was not an option under consideration. But neighborhoods along the alignment—from Southeast Portland to Milwaukie—requested that light rail be part of the study.

Today, the community overwhelmingly supports building light rail to serve Southeast Portland and Clackamas County. To achieve this, the South Corridor Project has followed a two-phased approach.

Phase 1

In September 2009, Phase 1 brought MAX Green Line service to the I-205 corridor between Clackamas Town Center and Gateway, where it then uses the existing MAX Blue and Red line tracks to travel to downtown Portland. Once the Green Line crosses the Steel Bridge, it follows new tracks along the Portland Mall to Portland State University.

Phase 2

Portland-Milwaukie light rail constitutes Phase 2 of the South Corridor Project.

Safety and Security

TriMet’s top priority is building and operating a safe transit system. TriMet takes a comprehensive approach, integrating security personnel, an expanded code of conduct, technology, system design and partnerships to keep the system safe. TriMet police and other security personnel patrol and provide a presence on the system. TriMet also partners with area police bureaus, community organizations and neighborhood associations to assist with additional security missions. These fact sheets detail TriMet's safety and security efforts and progress.