Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center

The Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center, commonly known as Gateway Transit Center, is a TriMet bus transit center and light rail station on the MAX Blue, Green and Red Lines in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is the 14th stop eastbound on the current Eastside MAX. This station is where all three lines split, with Blue Line trains proceeding east to Gresham, Green Line trains proceeding south to Clackamas, and Red Line trains proceeding north to Portland International Airport. When opened in 1986, it was the busiest station on the Portland–Gresham MAX line, the only line in the system at that time, and was the terminus of 11 bus lines.[1] Currently seven bus lines serve the Gateway Transit Center.

"Gateway Transit Center" redirects here. For the transit plaza adjacent to Los Angeles Union Station, see Patsaouras Transit Plaza. For the transit center in St. Louis, see Gateway Transportation Center. For the light rail station in Pittsburgh, see Gateway station (PAAC). For the future transit center in Charlotte, see Gateway Station (Charlotte).
Gateway/NE 99th Ave TC    
TriMet transit center
Looking southeast from the outbound MAX platform in 2018, showing all three tracks
Location9900 NE Multnomah St
Portland, Oregon, United States
Coordinates45°31′50″N 122°33′49″W
Owned byTriMet
Platforms1 island & 2 side platforms
Tracks3
Construction
Parking690 spaces
Bicycle facilitiesBike lockers and banks
Disabled accessYes
History
OpenedSeptember 5, 1986
Services
Preceding station   MAX Light Rail   Following station
Blue Line
toward Cleveland
Green Line
Red Line

The transit center is next to the interchange of Interstate 84 and Interstate 205, and behind a Fred Meyer store in the Gateway Shopping Center. Neighborhoods served by this station include Hazelwood, Woodland Park, Parkrose Heights, Madison South and Montavilla.

Platform layout
Red Line train on the curved bridge south of the station
View of the transit center from its parking garage. The brick buildings in the foreground house a MAX traction substation and a break room for TriMet bus drivers.

The transit center includes three light rail tracks and platforms, with bus stops located on the east side of the station. The easternmost track is used by inbound (westbound) Blue and Green Line trains. Trains on this track open up doors to both the side and center platforms. The middle track is to the west of the center platform and is used by inbound Red Line trains. The westernmost track has a side platform and is used by all outbound (eastbound) trains.

Inbound Red Line trains use the center track but inbound Blue and Green Line trains use the inbound main line track because of the way the Red Line junction is configured. Because the tracks going into Gateway eastbound approach from the north, running the Red Line north to the airport from Gateway would have required the operator to change cabs. To rectify the problem, TriMet created a special configuration to the Red Line junction. Inbound, the double track line becomes a single track route about 1/2 mile north of Gateway. The track runs adjacent to I-205, crosses under the main line, then swings around north on a tight horseshoe turn, and merges with the outbound track just south of Gateway. Inbound trains then use the center track switches to cross over to the inbound track. Future construction is proposed to reconfigure the junction and build separate platforms so that Red Line trains can travel straight north from Gateway without traveling through the loop.[2]

In comparison, the Green Line's junction with the Blue Line, 1/2 mile south of Gateway, is configured as a standard diverging junction.

Parking at this station and transit center was originally entirely in the form of surface lots, but in June 2006 TriMet opened a new 690-space parking garage.[3] This compensated for the closure of the surface lot closest to the station, which was replaced by a medical building.[3] A surface lot to the south of the station, in place since the station's opening in 1986, was not affected.

Bus service
The transit center's west side. The center has bus stops on both the east and west sides of the MAX station.

This station in the Gateway District is served by the following bus lines:

  • 15 – Belmont/NW 23rd
  • 19 – Woodstock/Glisan
  • 22 – Parkrose
  • 23 – San Rafael
  • 24 – Fremont/NW 18th
  • 25 – Glisan/Rockwood
  • 87 – Airport Way/181st
  • Columbia Gorge Express (intercity service to Multnomah Falls, Cascade Locks, Hood River, The Dalles)

Unique station features

The station has the following features:[4]

  • Feathers: Designed by Frank Boyden, they consist of three 14–18 feet long painted aluminum feathers that work as windvanes on 20 feet poles.
  • Blackberry frosted glass: The windscreens at this station (and many others) have a frosted/etched pattern of the pervasive blackberry in Oregon.

See also

References
  1. Wade, Michael (November 17, 1986). "MAX spearheads boost in ridership". The Oregonian, p. B4.
  2. Howard, John (October 26, 2017). "TriMet considering expansion of MAX Red Line to county fairgrounds". Portland Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  3. "New Gateway Park & Ride garage opens". TriMet. May 31, 2006. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved 2017-06-10.
  4. "Public Art on MAX Red Line". TriMet. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
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