Portland — Eastside Streetcar Plan

Rail Transit Online, July 2003

Details are coming into sharper focus for a proposed streetcar line to serve the city’s eastside that would be similar to the highly successful downtown route.  A steering committee led by Hank Ashforth, chairman of a firm that is a major property owner along the proposed loop, said it would cost in excess of $100 million and could be completed in three phases over a period of several years.  The first segment would link the Lloyd District to Northwest Portland followed by a line along a Grand Avenue-Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard couplet to Hawthorne Boulevard.  The project would be completed by extending the south end of the loop to downtown and a connection with the existing streetcar.  The first two phases would cost an estimated $39.6 million and $44 million respectively but the price tag for the last section cannot be forecast because a new and expensive bridge at Caruthers Street may be required.  Ashforth has been promoting the concept since last fall and says he is “…extremely committed” to the streetcar (see RTOL, Nov. 2002 & Mar. 2003).  He said 50 percent federal funding will be sought for construction, with the remainder coming from local sources including the private sector.  Ashforth and others believe the line would stimulate economic development along the route, where much of the land is underutilized.  The county commission voted unanimously to support the steering committee’s report, although two commissioners questioned whether the trolley should serve residential districts in addition to commercial areas.  Ashforth says the latter is more practical initially because it will raise property values which, in turn, could finance extensions into nearby neighborhoods.  The Portland city council must give final approval before the scheme can move forward.