PORTLAND, Ore. — After a three-year wait, TriMet riders can now take the MAX from Portland International Airport (PDX) to Hillsboro. The agency's Better Red project extension officially opened on Wednesday.
"This is incredible," said Sam Desue Jr., general manager of TriMet. "What a great day for Portland, what a great day for Washington County, what a great day for the state of Oregon. We delivered on a project — on time and on budget."
Construction on the project started in the fall of 2021. MAX Red Line service has been expanded to 10 more stations on the west side, stretching to the Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport stop. Other added stops include Millikan Way, Elmonica/SW 170th and Orenco. The map below shows where the Red Line extension starts and ends.
"That extension couldn't come at a more important time as Washington County continues to grow," Desue told a crowd celebrating the completion of 'A Better Red.' "Before the pandemic, this area faced overcrowding, and with this project, we're expanding our capacity to meet our future needs in one of the state's most vital economic hubs."
When asked why the Red Line doesn't extend all the way out to match the end of the Blue Line at Hatfield Government Center, Desue said the agency worked with the budget they had.
"The reason that we didn't go farther is due to the funding that we received," Desue said. "We only received just shy of $100 million dollars from the federal government, and the region put in the other $100 million to make the project."
A TriMet spokesperson told KGW back in the spring that the decision came down to what impacts the most riders within their budget. The spokesperson added that extending the line to the Hatfield stop would have taken much more work and would have increased the cost of the already three-year project.
As part of Better Red, the first new MAX station in nine years, the Gateway North MAX station, opened in March. The MAX station at PDX was also fully renovated and reopened with a second track on the approach to the airport, eliminating a segment where inbound and outbound trains used to have to take turns.