Southeast Bybee Boulevard station

Southeast Bybee Boulevard is a light rail station in Portland, Oregon, United States, served by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. It is the 14th station southbound on the Orange Line, which operates between Portland City Center, Southeast Portland, and Milwaukie. The grade-separated, island platform station adjoins Union Pacific Railroad (UP) freight tracks to the east and McLoughlin Boulevard to the west. Its entrances are located on the Bybee Bridge, which spans over the platform and connects Portland's Sellwood-Moreland and Eastmoreland neighborhoods. Nearby places of interest include Westmoreland Park, Eastmoreland Golf Course, Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, and Reed College.

SE Bybee Blvd
MAX Light Rail station
The station platform viewed from the Bybee Bridge
General information
Location2425 SE Bybee Boulevard
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Coordinates45°28′28″N 122°38′24″W
Owned byTriMet
Line(s) Orange Line
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
ConnectionsTriMet bus
Construction
Bicycle facilitiesParking racks
AccessibleYes
History
OpenedSeptember 12, 2015
Passengers
Fall 2018513 weekday boardings[1]
Services
Preceding station TriMet Following station
Southeast Tacoma/​Johnson Creek
towards Southeast Park Avenue
 Orange Line Southeast 17th Avenue and Holgate Boulevard
towards PSU South/​Southwest 6th & College
Location

Southeast Bybee Boulevard station was built as part of the Portland–Milwaukie Light Rail Project, an extension of MAX from downtown Portland to Milwaukie in Clackamas County. The station began construction in July 2013 and opened with the entire Portland–Milwaukie segment on September 12, 2015. A bus stop by the entrance is served by TriMet bus route 19–Woodstock/Glisan.

History
See also: Bybee Bridge and MAX Orange Line § History

Southeast Bybee Boulevard station is named after the road it serves, which is carried by the Bybee Bridge directly above the station platform.[2] The Bybee Bridge was originally constructed in 1911 by the Ladd Estate Company to serve properties being developed around the then-newly established Reed College in Eastmoreland.[3][4] The bridge connected the Eastmoreland and Sellwood-Moreland communities by crossing over the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks,[5] which was built by the Oregon Central Railroad in 1869[6][7] and acquired by UP in 1996.[8] The original Bybee Bridge included a streetcar line called "Eastmoreland" that spurred from the Sellwood line on Milwaukie Avenue in Sellwood to 32nd and Rex streets in Eastmoreland.[5] Both streetcar lines were operated by the Portland Railway, Light and Power Company.[9] The Eastmoreland line was converted to trolley buses, Portland's first such service, in 1936,[10][11] and converted again to motor buses after 1956.[12]

In 1979, regional planners proposed a light rail line for the McLoughlin Boulevard corridor against the backdrop of freeway revolts that defeated the Mount Hood Freeway project.[13] The line would have run from downtown Portland all the way south to Oregon City in Clackamas County as part of a network of "transitways" between Portland and its suburbs.[14][15]

The platform under construction in 2015

During the environmental phase of the Portland–Milwaukie Light Rail Project, the project steering committee proposed a light rail station below the Bybee Bridge.[16] In 2008, Metro (the Portland metropolitan area's regional government) adopted a locally preferred alternative that retained the stop.[17]: 1  Outreach for the station began in early 2009 during the light rail project's preliminary engineering phase.[18] Regional transit agency TriMet engaged with nearby neighborhood associations, namely the Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association and the Sellwood-Moreland Improvement League, to discuss specific design elements and address safety and accessibility concerns. In 2012, TriMet approached engineering firm CH2M Hill for further design recommendations, which led to a second bus pull-out and elevator on the south side of the bridge. Construction of the station commenced in early 2013.[19]

By the end of January 2014, the station was about 60 percent complete. Upon completion, the station was predicted be one of the most visible within inner southeast Portland.[20] It opened on September 12, 2015.

Station details
Street level Entrance/Exit, ticket vending machine, bus stop
Platform
level		 Northbound ← Orange Line toward PSU South/Southwest 6th and College Street (Southeast 17th Avenue and Holgate Boulevard)
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Southbound → Orange Line toward Southeast Park Avenue (Southeast Tacoma/Johnson Creek) →

The station occupies a section of dedicated light rail right-of-way running in between two parallel transportation corridors: McLoughlin Boulevard to the west and UP freight tracks to the east, which mark the boundary of two Portland neighborhoods, Sellwood-Moreland to the west and Eastmoreland to the east. The station is immediately surrounded by Westmoreland Park, Eastmoreland Golf Course, and Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. Southeast Bybee Boulevard station features an island platform situated directly beneath the Bybee Bridge, accessed from entrances at the crest of the bridge, with stairs and an elevator on both the north and south sides.

Services
A TriMet bus passing the station's northern entrance

Southeast Bybee Boulevard station is situated between the Southeast Tacoma/Johnson Creek and Southeast 17th Avenue and Holgate Boulevard stations as the 14th station soutbound on the MAX Orange Line, which runs from the station northbound to downtown Portland and southbound through Milwaukie to Oak Grove.[21] It recorded 513 average weekday boardings in fall 2018.[1] Trains serve the station for approximately 22 hours per day on weekdays, 21½ hours on Saturdays, and 19½ hours on Sundays. Headways measure from 15 minutes during most of the day to 30 minutes in the early mornings and late evenings.[22] Most northbound Orange Line trains through operate into the Yellow Line and continue to Expo Center station in North Portland, Oregon.[23][24] A bus stop by the station entrance is served by TriMet bus route 19–Woodstock/Glisan, which provides riders access to nearby Reed College.[25]

References
  1. "Monthly reports". TriMet. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  2. Google (March 6, 2021). "Bybee Bridge" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  3. "East Side Grows at Every Point Recent Big Realty Deals Benefit South End Particularly Say Many Owners". The Sunday Oregonian. February 20, 1910. p. 10.
  4. "Prices Take Jump. Reed Institute Helps Values in Southeast Portland". The Sunday Oregonian. June 19, 1910. p. 5.
  5. "Work on Viaduct Begun. Great Structure to be Entrance to Eastmoreland. Ornamental Structure Designed". The Sunday Oregonian. April 16, 1911. p. 9.
  6. "Milwaukie Historic Chronology" (PDF). City of Milwaukie. Office of the City Recorder. August 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  7. Beck, Dana (November 29, 2013). "The Great Portland Railroad Race". The Bee. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  8. Leonard, Rita A. (August 2, 2013). "Southeast's transportation history hidden along MLK/McLoughlin Viaduct". The Sellwood Bee. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  9. "Carline is Rushed Ladd Estate Builds Branch to Serve Eastmoreland Fast Schedule Planned Work Begins". The Sunday Oregonian. July 16, 1911. p. 9.
  10. "New Car Routes Effective Soon. First Changes on 12 Lines to Be Made August 30". The Morning Oregonian. August 15, 1936. p. 3.
  11. "Electric Coach Christening Set. City's First Trolley of Kind Will Start Service". The Morning Oregonian. August 28, 1936. p. 13.
  12. Sebree, Mac; Ward, Paul (1974). The Trolley Coach in North America. Los Angeles: Interurban Press. pp. 219–223. LCCN 74-20367.
  13. Hortsch, Dan (September 28, 1975). "Mt. Hood Freeway may be dead – but it's still kicking". The Sunday Oregonian. p. D1.
  14. "Meetings on transit ideas slated". The Oregonian. May 4, 1975. p. C2.
  15. Hortsch, Dan (September 28, 1975). "Transferred money would go toward multiplicity of confusing projects". The Oregonian. p. D1.
  16. "Bybee Station Access Executive Summary" (PDF). TriMet. May 1, 2013. pp. 5–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 29, 2021.
  17. South Corridor Portland–Milwaukie Light Rail Project Locally Preferred Alternative Report (PDF) (Report). Metro. July 24, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  18. "Bybee Station Outreach Chronology (Preliminary Engineering phase to Present)" (PDF). TriMet. January 1, 2013. pp. 301–304. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 29, 2021.
  19. Ashton, David F. (May 10, 2013). "Westmoreland neighbors see final MAX Bybee Station plans". Sellwood Bee. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  20. Ashton, David F. (January 31, 2014). "Construction progresses on Bybee MAX Station". Sellwood Bee. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  21. "MAX Orange Line Map and Schedule". TriMet. Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  22. "Frequent Service". TriMet. Archived from the original on January 9, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  23. "Stop ID 13716 – SE Bybee Blvd MAX Station, Southbound". TriMet. Archived from the original on January 14, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  24. "Stop ID 13723 – SE Bybee Blvd MAX Station, Northbound". TriMet. Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  25. "19–Woodstock/Glisan". TriMet. Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
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