TriMet receives delivery of girders for LRT project, hits ridership record

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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TriMet

TriMet in Portland, Ore., received a delivery of 64 steel girders for the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project. The girders will support the Project's Harbor Structure decking that will carry the light rail over and under several roadways in South Waterfront.

The 64 girders were delivered to the South Waterfront area beginning July 23. The girders will be delivered in three phases over a 10-week period, with one girder being delivered per truck.

The 7.3-mile project is the region’s sixth MAX construction project to be built and extends from the terminus of the MAX Green and Yellow lines at Portland State University in Downtown Portland to South Waterfront, SE Portland, Milwaukie and North Clackamas County.

The line, which expands the MAX system to 60 miles and 97 stations is expected to open in September 2015.

In other news, TriMet reached a new ridership milestone: for the first time in the agency’s 43-year history, TriMet tops more than 102 million trips on its buses, MAX and WES commuter rail. That’s a 2.2-percent ridership increase during fiscal year 2012 compared to FY2011.

“This is a great milestone that shows riders value our service and the options it provides for getting around the region, whether to go to work, school or enjoy all the area has to offer,” said TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane. “I want to thank all of our riders for reaching this new record, as well as the operators who provide this valuable service.”

During June, more than 8.5 million trips were taken on the system. Since opening in February 2009, WES ridership has continued to grow every month, including June with WES up 7.4 percent to 1,740 trips a day.

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