Category: Freight Trains

A discussion about the freight trains, the ORHF, noise and safety issues and Union Pacific’s Brooklyn Yards.

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Bikes Freight Trains Transportation

Gideon Overcrossing now open

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) announced today that the Gideon Overcrossing is now open.

The Gideon Overcrossing is a bike and pedestrian bridge that provides a new north–south connection above the rail tracks near the Clinton St / SE 12th Ave MAX Station. It spans from SE 13th Place at Gideon Street on the south side to SE 14th Avenue on the north.

Street map displaying location of Gideon Overcrossing
Location of new Gideon Overcrossing bike and pedestrian bridge

This new bridge provides an alternative to the at-grade crossing at SE Milwaukie/11th/12th Avenues, especially when trains are blocking the intersection. For more details, check out the PBOT press release.

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Brooklyn Action Corps Freight Trains

Brooklyn Neighborhood Trains Quiet Zone Update

The Brooklyn and Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood Associations wish to share the good news that a commitment to the pursuing a Quiet Zone is clearly spelled out in TriMet’s Conceptual Design Report. See the report at:

Portland-Milwaulkie Light Rail Conceptual Design Report – index to the full report

View the Conceptual Design Report

Clinton Street, Rhine Street and Holgate Boulevard station areas

System Elements and Preliminary Engineering Recommendations

– see page 8 and 9, Quiet Zone

Feel free to attend a Light Rail Open House to learn more about plans for your neighborhood, and to thank TriMet and City stakeholders for taking our concerns to heart. The meeting notices are in the calendar to the left of this post.

Thanks to the Hosford Abernethy Neighborhood Association for this update.

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Brooklyn Action Corps Freight Trains Transportation

Please Attend this TriMet SE Corridor Light Rail Open House Tuesday March 10, 5:30-7:30PM

Night BridgeTitle: TriMet Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Open House
Location: St. Philip Neri Church, 2804 SE 16th Ave., Portland
Link out: Click here
Description: Please join us at this open house for a progress report on the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project. Topics will include the new Willamette River transit bridge, engineering, the project timeline and the Final Environmental Impact Statement.

Continue reading “Please Attend this TriMet SE Corridor Light Rail Open House Tuesday March 10, 5:30-7:30PM”
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Brooklyn Action Corps Freight Trains Transportation

OREGONIAN: Tualatin May Have to Wait Two Years for MAX Quiet Zone

Wednesday, March 04, 2009
BRAD SCHMIDT
The Oregonian Staff

Tualatin policymakers hope to use federal stimulus money as part of a new and cheaper plan to eventually end the use of train horns by TriMet’s Westside Express Service.

City officials now say they can create a citywide quiet zone for about $2.5 million, half the original budget-busting price tag. But the lower cost comes with fewer safety enhancements, and the horns probably would continue blowing for another two years until improvements are made.

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Brooklyn Action Corps Freight Trains

Oregonian Editorial: New Westside Express Train Horn Noise Problematic

The brand new Westside Express commuter rail gets high marks–except for the unanticipated consequence of a huge increase in horn noise required by federal railroad rules…

A rude awakening for Tualatin, and for TriMet
by Editorial Board, The Oregonian
Monday February 16, 2009

The Westside Express Service is a welcome addition
to the region, but the noise problem can’t be shrugged off

In hindsight, Chris Barhyte wonders if they should have rented a freight train.

That sounds extreme, but Barhyte is a Tualatin city councilman. In the two weeks since the Westside Express Service started running, he’s been asking himself how the city could have fully anticipated — or simulated — the noise WES would inflict on the city.

Continue reading “Oregonian Editorial: New Westside Express Train Horn Noise Problematic”