Last week, TriMet proudly announced that the tracks for Milwaukie light rail had successfully been laid in the South Waterfront district to allow light rail to cross SW Moody Avenue next to the new OHSU construction project. When finished, there will be a light rail stop at that location, and the train will then go up and over the new Willamette River bridge.
What TriMet did not say in its press release is that SW Moody had already been torn apart, raised 14 feet, and rebuilt over an 18-month period ending June 2012. The tab for this retrofit was $52 million. The whole point of raising the road was to allow the Milwaukie light rail line to cross it at grade. Thus, the light rail tracks should have been laid when the entire road was being rebuilt during 2011.
The most recent retrofit shut down Moody Avenue for three weeks and required the complete removal of the Portland streetcar tracks for the third time in three years. This was a severe inconvenience to South Waterfront workers and a waste of taxpayer money.
TriMet has yet to publicly say how much this second retrofit cost, nor has the agency explained why it was done 15 months after the first rebuilding. An explanation is in order.
John A. Charles, Jr. is President and CEO of Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon’s free market public policy research organization.
