Wilsonville Station

Wilsonville Station
WES commuter rail station

Station under construction April 2008
Location 9699 SW Barber Street
Wilsonville, Oregon
Coordinates 45°18′41″N 122°46′31″W / 45.311341°N 122.775258°W / 45.311341; -122.775258Coordinates: 45°18′41″N 122°46′31″W / 45.311341°N 122.775258°W / 45.311341; -122.775258
Owned by City of Wilsonville
Line(s)
  Westside Express Service
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 2
Construction
Parking Park & Ride: 400 spaces
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened January 2009
Services
Preceding station   WES Commuter Rail   Following station
TerminusCommuter Rail

Wilsonville Station is a train station and transit center on the Westside Express Service (WES) commuter rail line in Wilsonville, Oregon, United States. The station is the southern terminus of the 14.7-mile (23.7 km) line that connects to the city of Beaverton at the Beaverton Transit Center, where passengers can connect to MAX Light Rail. Opened in January 2009, the station includes a 400-car park-and-ride lot and bus transit center, both owned by the city of Wilsonville as part of its South Metro Area Regional Transit (SMART) public mass transit bus system.

History

Plans for the commuter rail between Beaverton and Wilsonville began as early as 1996, led by Washington County officials.[1] In 2001, the Federal Transit Administration authorized the project, and in 2004 it approved the project,[2] by which time regional transit agency TriMet had taken over as the lead agency in planning the project. Construction began in October 2006.[3] The station was originally planned to be built at Boberg Road, and was later changed to the location on Barber Street as suggested by the Villebois developers.[4]

On March 2, 2007, a groundbreaking ceremony was held at the station's site, attended by officials from TriMet, the state, and Wilsonville politicians.[5] This included former mayor and then state representative Jerry Krummel, an early proponent of the line.[6] The public artwork was installed on September 3, 2008.[7] The line was scheduled to begin service in September 2008,[8] but delays led to an opening in January 2009.[9]

Details

The station is one of five on the 14.7-mile (23.7 km) rail line that utilizes Portland and Western Railroad’s freight rail line.[5] Located on Barber Street on the west side of Interstate 5, the station and line are in operation only during the morning and evening commute times, Monday through Friday.[10] Averaging 37 miles per hour (60 km/h), each trip between Wilsonville and Beaverton is scheduled to take 27 minutes, and trains depart every 30 minutes.[10] Wilsonville Station has bus connections through SMART, Canby Area Transit, and to Salem via Cherriots.[10]

Bus area
Completed platform

Wilsonville Station, WES's southern terminus, was built by contractor Stacy and Witbeck.[5] The stop includes a park-and-ride lot with 400 spaces along with the platform.[5] The platform includes a shelter for waiting passengers measuring 40 feet (12 m) long.[5] The station includes 12 bays for the transit center and a 17,000-square-foot (1,600 m2) maintenance building for SMART buses.[6] Future plans call for a mixed-use development to include SMART offices, retail shops and restaurants, along with public restrooms, bicycle storage and an outdoor play area.[6]

Additional amenities at the station are wind screens, public artwork, and a scored-concrete plaza featuring trees.[5] Public art consists of an interactive sculpture created by Frank Boyden and Brad Rude.[11] The sculpture features bronze heads and a vehicle designed to represent the train and the variety of people who ride the line.[11] The vehicle can be moved (by hand) along a track and has an animal figure displayed in a scene atop the piece.[11] Additionally, glass in the windbreak is etched with a willow pattern.[11]

Commuters from the surrounding communities of Lake Oswego, Canby, Donald, Woodburn, and Aurora are expected to utilize the station.[12][13] Washington County provided the land for Wilsonville Station.[14] Self-propelled, diesel-fueled rail cars are used for the line.[3] The park-and-ride lot was partly built to allow for interconnection between the city's SMART bus service and the rail line.[15] For the first five years of operation, Wilsonville will pay a maximum of $300,000 a year to help fund the annual operations of the TriMet-operated line.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Hamilton, Don (July 18, 1996). "Cities take another look at passenger trains". The Oregonian.
  2. ↑ "Wilsonville-to-Beaverton commuter train gets OK". Portland Business Journal. 2004-05-10.
  3. 1 2 "TriMet building passenger train line". Portland Business Journal. 2004-10-23.
  4. ↑ Frost, Danielle (2003-07-31). "Commuter rail plans delayed". Wilsonville Spokesman.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tucker, Libby (2007-03-05). "Commuter rail project breaks ground in Wilsonville". Daily Journal of Commerce. Archived from the original on 2014-09-06. General contractor Stacy and Witbeck began construction on the Wilsonville station and 400-space park-and-ride area at the southern terminus of the new line Friday.
  6. 1 2 3 Jagernauth, David (2007-03-07). "Wilsonville rail station finally gets on track". Wilsonville Spokesman.
  7. ↑ Foyston, John (September 4, 2008). "Ambitious crews install 5 steel sculptures in a day". The Oregonian.
  8. ↑ "WES rail car debuts in Wilsonville". Portland Tribune. 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
  9. ↑ Rivera, Dylan (October 1, 2008). "TriMet delays opening of Westside commuter rail line until February". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
  10. 1 2 3 WES Fares, Route/Station Map and Schedule. TriMet. Retrieved on March 19, 2010.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Public Art on WES Commuter Rail. TriMet. Retrieved on March 19, 2010.
  12. ↑ Tims, Dana (2001-06-28). "Shaping Wilsonville's center". The Oregonian.
  13. ↑ Tims, Dana (2001-08-02). "Commute rail line closer". The Oregonian.
  14. ↑ Bella, Rick (2007-03-29). "Planners can count on one thing: complaints". The Oregonian.
  15. ↑ Kipp, Curt (2004-11-24). "Congress puts goodies under Wilsonville's tree". Wilsonville Spokesman.
  16. ↑ Jagernauth, David (2005-11-23). "City and TriMet agree on rail costs". Wilsonville Spokesman.
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