[PRCo] Fwd: Portland Streetcar Expansion Plans ?

[James B. Holland]

--- In PCC_Cars at yahos.com, "geoghb at ..."


>From the On-Line Railway Age today.

October 29, 2007
Portland eyes more streetcar routes Portland, Ore., city planners are
considering expansion of the Portland streetcar into a full-fledged
network criss-crossing the city, and plan to seek neighborhood input to
determine which areas would welcome such service first.

City officials assert that, unlike bus service, streetcars could
generate business and political momentum for clusters of midrise housing
and commercial centers that could spread the walkable feel of popular
urban neighborhoods.

About 140 miles of the city's busiest streets show potential for new
streetcar routes, said Patrick Sweeney, project manager for the Portland
Office of Transportation. Those streets have dense enough housing,
employment and shopping, and are zoned for more.

In the next six months, the city's transportation office will rank
potential routes based not just on neighborhood and business support,
but also on details such as relatively flat terrain and wide
intersections for railcar turns.


Three open-houses sessions, the first occurring today, will offer city
residents a chance to plead for or against a line in their
neighborhoods, according to the Oregonian. "A community that has a
corridor and advocates for their own corridor is so important to us,"
Sweeney said. "If they don't support it, we're not going to pick a fight
with a neighborhood."