Division Transit Project


The Division Transit Project is a future high-capacity bus route in Portland, Oregon, United States, that will be operated by TriMet. The line will run east–west between the northern end of the Portland Transit Mall in downtown Portland and Cleveland Park and Ride in Gresham via Southeast Division Street. It will connect Portland City Center, Portland State University, South Waterfront, the lower campus of Oregon Health and Sciences University, Southeast Portland, and Central Gresham. Passengers will be able to transfer to MAX Light Rail and the Portland Streetcar at various points across the line. The project began construction in January 2020 and is targeted for completion in 2022.

History

A proposal to develop "high-capacity transit" along the Powell–Division corridor emerged in 2009 with the adoption of a high-capacity transit system plan by Metro regional government. In 2013, Metro and TriMet initiated the project and began studying alignment and mode alternatives along Southeast Division Street and Powell Boulevard, with bus rapid transit and light rail among modes under consideration. That same year, the cities of Portland and Gresham applied for a grant that made it possible for city representatives to gather input from affected communities. In 2014, a project steering committee was formed, which in September of that year voted to abandon the further study of light rail and streetcar alternatives, moving forward with a bus-only option. The project began conceptual design work two months later.
The steering committee had wanted a route that would use Powell Boulevard then head north to Division Street somewhere between 52nd and 92nd avenues before continuing further east to Gresham, with a potential for an extension as far east as Mt. Hood Community College near Troutdale. A study conducted by TriMet in March 2016 revealed that this service route would take approximately 11 minutes longer to travel between Gresham and downtown Portland than the existing bus route. As a result, the planning committee abandoned the Powell segment in October of that year.
The line is expected to cost $175 million. In August 2018, the Portland City Council authorized $17.7 million in funding for the project, sourced through developer fees. It received tentative Federal Transit Administration approval for $87.4 million in funding in April 2019. The FTA formally awarded this grant on January 23, 2020.

Route

The Division Transit Project's western terminus occupies the northern end of the Portland Transit Mall on Northwest Irving Street and 5th Avenue in downtown Portland's Pearl District, near Union Station. Within the transit mall, buses travel northbound on 6th Avenue and southbound on 5th Avenue, except on a segment between Southwest Lincoln and Hall streets where westbound buses run along 4th Avenue. Both directions converge at Southwest Lincoln and 4th streets and proceed eastward through SW Harbor Viaduct and across Tilikum Crossing, following the same route as the MAX Orange Line.

Stations