South Corridor Project

The South Corridor Project—led by Metro in partnership with TriMet and the City of Portland—has worked to identify transportation options for the fast-growing I-205 and Milwaukie/Oregon City corridors. When the study began in 1999, light rail was not an option under consideration. But neighborhoods along the alignment—from Southeast Portland to Milwaukie—requested that light rail be part of the study.

Today, the community overwhelmingly supports building light rail to serve Southeast Portland and Clackamas County. To achieve this, the South Corridor Project has a two-phased approach.

• In September 2009, Phase 1 will bring MAX Green Line service to I-205 between Clackamas Town Center and Gateway, where it will then use the existing MAX Blue and Red line tracks to downtown Portland, then run on new tracks along the Portland Mall to Portland State University.
• The Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project constitutes Phase 2 of the South Corridor Project.