Wow. Will the TriMet/Metro/PDC madness ever stop?

Trimet has to spend an extra twenty-three million dollars, because if the line is twenty-five feet away from a freight train, then there might be an accident. But fifty feet away from a freight train, then you're fine.

Something about this seems wrong.

PD,
No, it won't.

From article: . . While Hansen calls the situation the most complex issue TriMet has ever faced in relocating a business for a MAX line, he says the route is set and won’t change. .

Why is it always set, why can't other options be looked at now that Union Pacific has changed their required extra 25 ft? Union Pacific changed and we should be able to at least look at change as well. Unless, some developers were promised already some tax abatements along the way somewhere!

Not that I am a proponent of the Max, certainly not the way mass transit has been done in our area. Where is the extra money coming from?

From the description of what is made, for whom and how, this doest seem like a green businesses that Portland really needs! Jobs shmobs, who needs them! This is probably a corporation!

Now if they were heat treating bicycles for a NGO, and powered it with biomass you could get a plaque from the mayor for the mens room!

Then there is the endless inconveniencing of citizens with never ending unnecessary projects such as THIS.

(Did I mention that Trimet is broke?)

Isn't Milwaukie considered the 'burbs?

Uh Oh. Get ready for more Bike Pork so Portland can get to the top again...

http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2010/04/portland_dethroned_as_americas.html

We have rivers here, how about some Ferrys like Seattle has? . . or has the door been closed to discussions about that transportation mode?
The Ferrys are a nice option it would seem to me. . coffee and breakfast, a nice and comfortable commute.

Hey, calm down. It's all free. Hansen said a federal grant will pay the $23M. So, no problemo.

Justin -

The Federal Railroad Administration sets the rules for mode separation. As much as I loathe TRriMets current management and metrgod of operation, some of this crap is forced upon TriMet by the feds, who supply manu bucks. Remember the Golden Rule - he who has the Gold makes the Rules.

mm hmm. Let's see a breakdown of that $23M. They sure come up with these figures quick. You can bet there's something off the top for all parties involved...

some of this crap is forced upon TriMet by the feds, who supply manu bucks.

And who says just because the feds are paying anybody needs to take?
They pay to build not operate, and furthermore, why is everybody so gosh darn scared of the feds?
What are they gonna do, send the troops into Portland and requisition our equipment back or what?
Somebody has to stand up to these super bureaucrats sometime. Let Oregon be the first to fire a new shot heard round the world!

Buses only cost $400,000 each....do the math.....

Have they considered moving the Union Pacific tracks 25 feet to the west?

I don't know of any federal grants that are allowed to be used to pay for land acquisition via eminent domain anymore. What grant is F. Hansen talking about, anybody have the lowdown?

Open the market to competition. I know that's idea is crazy but we have competition for city council and mayors then why not for transit. Just a crazy idea.

Come on folks.

Demand that the Milwaukie Light Rail be canceled.
The city can save countless millions, the State can rescind the $250 million Lottery dollars, and Milwaukie can forget about creating Urban Renewal Schemes to fund part of it.

It's bad enough all of you people did nothing to stop the I-205 line and mall makeover.

Now we're in a crisis far beyond business as usual and these boondoggles must come to an end NOW.

A couple things:

1. There are no hard and fast rules about separation of LRT tracks and heavy rail tracks. The FRA doesn't actually cover that, so it's up to each railroad (who generally owns quite a bit of right-of-way surrounding its own line). The Union Pacific changed its policy from 25 feet of separation to 50 feet after an incident involving a heavy rail and light rail train in another city whose tracks were close to each other.

2. TriMet wanted a portion of Union Pacific's right-of-way. Yes, TriMet has power of eminent domain. Here's the problem: so does Union Pacific (and all railroads). So TriMet's legal power is useless against UP.

3. I love Hansen's "the line is fixed" comment. No, it isn't. Final engineering hasn't occurred yet. Yet Hansen and his anti-bus attitude has no problem cutting more bus lines but when it comes to rail there's no stopping the Hansen Express Train. In fact it took prodding by one of our Representatives for TriMet to ask for federal funding of replacement buses - something that virtually every other transit agency in the nation simply does on an automatic basis (and that the FTA funds on an automatic basis).