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Mall/Southwest 4th Avenue and Mall/Southwest 5th Avenue stations

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Mall/SW 4th Ave  Mall/SW 5th Ave  
MAX Light Rail stations
SW 4th Avenue MAX station.jpg
An eastbound Red Line train at the platform of Mall/Southwest 4th Avenue in 2009
LocationSW 4th & Yamhill (eastbound) and SW 5th & Morrison (westbound)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Coordinates45°31′06″N 122°40′38″W / 45.51833°N 122.67722°W / 45.51833; -122.67722Coordinates: 45°31′06″N 122°40′38″W / 45.51833°N 122.67722°W / 45.51833; -122.67722
Owned byTriMet
Line(s) Blue Line
 Red Line
(upon closing)
Platforms2 one-way side platforms
Tracks1 per split
ConnectionsTram interchange MAX Light Rail:
 Green Line
 Orange Line
 Yellow Line
at Pioneer Courthouse/Southwest 6th and Pioneer Place/Southwest 5th
Bus interchange Portland Transit Mall
(upon closing)
Construction
ParkingPaid parking nearby
Bicycle facilitiesRacks
Disabled accessYes
History
OpenedMarch 26, 1990 (1990-03-26)
ClosedMarch 1, 2020 (2020-03-01)
Former services
Preceding station   TriMet icon.svg MAX Light Rail   Following station
Mall/SW 5th Avenue
Blue Line
1990–2020
One-way operation
Red Line
2001–2020
Yellow Line
2004–2009
Mall/SW 4th Avenue
One-way operation
Blue Line
1990–2020
toward Cleveland
Red Line
2001–2020
Yellow Line
2004–2009
toward Expo Center

Mall/Southwest 4th Avenue and Mall/Southwest 5th Avenue were a pair of light rail stations in Portland, Oregon, United States, served by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. Built into the sidewalks of Southwest Yamhill and Morrison streets between 4th and 5th avenues in downtown Portland, the Mall stations were the 22nd and 8th stations eastbound on the Blue Line and the Red Line, respectively. For just over five years, they were also served by the Yellow Line from that line's opening in May 2004 until its rerouting to the Portland Transit Mall in August 2009.

MAX began operating in 1986 without stations built on this segment because it was anticipated that the block would be redeveloped. The stops were infilled upon the completion of Pioneer Place in 1990. In March 2020, TriMet closed the stations as part of a program to speed up MAX trains in downtown.

History[]

See also: Pioneer Place
An information pylon on Southwest 4th Avenue with a sign indicating the station's planned closure

In July 1981, the Portland City Council laid out guidelines for what would become the Morrison Street Project, a proposed mixed-use development of three blocks in downtown Portland near the intersection of the Portland Transit Mall on 5th and 6th avenues and Morrison and Yamhill streets.[1] That November, TriMet published a conceptual design report for the Banfield Light Rail Project, which would traverse Morrison and Yamhill streets, that outlined a pair of light rail stations to serve the development. The report recommended platforms along the north end of the block southeast of Southwest 5th Avenue and Morrison Street and on the opposite end of the same block on Yamhill Street.[2]: 37–38 

In 1983, the Portland Development Commission (PDC) appointed the Rouse Company to develop the Morrison Street Project, for which the developer designed a mall and mixed-use development proposal called "Pioneer Place".[3] PDC approved Rouse's design, which included a 400-room hotel, 1,025 underground parking spaces, and buildings up to 25 stories high, in August 1984. The following year, Rouse revealed that it was encountering problems signing tenants, citing a weak market for hotels and department stores, and announced a six-month delay in construction.[4] After failing to secure key tenants in 1986, the developer offered a scaled-down revision of its initial proposal and further postponed construction to 1987, a year after the scheduled completion of the Banfield Light Rail Project, which by then was renamed Metropolitan Area Express (MAX).[1] MAX thus began operating on September 5, 1986, without a stop at this location.[5]

PDC approved Rouse's scaled-down plans in October 1986.[6] The following December, the city council authorized the construction of a six-story parking garage for Pioneer Place on a fourth block bound by 3rd and 4th avenues and Yamhill and Taylor streets.[7] In 1987, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that the city violated state law by condemning this fourth block without first seeking a review from Multnomah County,[8][9] but the county board ultimately approved the parking garage in October of that year.[10] The groundbreaking of "Pioneer Place I", the first of a two-phased development plan, finally occurred on March 3, 1988.[6]

During the construction of Pioneer Place, TriMet planners revisited plans to add infill stops to serve the development.[11] The MAX platforms were ultimately built, and the Mall stations—their names referring to the Portland Transit Mall—opened to MAX service on March 26, 1990.[12] In September 2001, the Red Line became the second MAX line to serve the stations while TriMet rebranded the original service as the Blue Line.[13][14] From May 2004 to August 2009, the Yellow Line also stopped at the Mall stations until TriMet rerouted it to the Portland Transit Mall.[15]

After nearly 30 years in operation, TriMet closed the Mall stations on March 1, 2020, as part of a consolidation program to speed up MAX trains in downtown Portland.[16][17] As of 2020, the area will continue to be served by the Blue and Red lines via the Pioneer Square South and Pioneer Square North stations, which are located two blocks to the west;[18][19] and the Yamhill District and Morrison/Southwest 3rd Avenue stations, which are located two blocks to the east.[20][21]

Station details[]

Mall/Southwest 5th Avenue station in February 2018
Sidewalk
platform 		Westbound ← Blue Line towards Hatfield Government Center (Pioneer Square North)
← Red Line towards Beaverton Transit Center (Pioneer Square North)
Side platform, doors opened on the left
Pioneer Place
Sidewalk
platform 		Side platform, doors opened on the left
Eastbound → Blue Line towards Cleveland Avenue (Yamhill District) →
→ Red Line towards Portland International Airport (Yamhill District) →

The Mall stations occupied the sidewalks facing Southwest Yamhill and Morrison streets between 4th and 5th avenues in downtown Portland. Pioneer Place I, the first of two mall structures built as part of the Pioneer Place development, is situated between the former platforms. The stations' amenities included benches, bicycle racks, garbage cans, shelters, and schedule information displays.[22][23]

The southbound MAX tracks on the Portland Transit Mall run along the immediate west side of the defunct platforms on 5th Avenue; this provided a direct transfer to the MAX platform of Pioneer Place/Southwest 5th station across the street,[24] which is served by the Green and Orange lines.[25] On the opposite end of this adjacent block, which is occupied by the Pioneer Courthouse,[26] is the northbound MAX station, Pioneer Courthouse/Southwest 6th served by the Green and Yellow lines.[27] The Mall stations also facilitated transfers to transit buses serving the Portland Transit Mall.[25]

Service[]

On the final day of service, the Mall stations were served by the MAX Blue Line, which connected the stations to Beaverton and Hillsboro to the west and Gresham to the east, and the MAX Red Line, which connected the stations to Beaverton to the west and Portland International Airport to the east.[28] In late 2019, Mall/Southwest 5th Avenue and Mall/Southwest 4th Avenue were the 25th and 39th busiest stations of the MAX network's 97 stations, respectively, based on TriMet's weekday on-and-off boarding totals. Mall/Southwest 5th Avenue recorded 3,436 passengers on weekdays while Mall/Southwest 4th Avenue recorded 2,467 passengers.[29]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Hayakawa, Alan R. (March 30, 1986). "Future, shape of Morrison Street Project in question". The Oregonian. p. C2.
  2. ^ Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (November 1, 1981). Banfield Light Rail Project: Conceptual Design Information for the City of Portland (Report). 9. TriMet Collection. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  3. ^ Jenning, Steve (January 19, 1986). "Plan to sell store chain clouds mall project". The Sunday Oregonian. p. D1.
  4. ^ Hayakawa, Alan R.; Jenning, Steve (March 30, 1986). "Morrison project shrinks in scale, raising issues". The Oregonian. p. 1.
  5. ^ Federman, Stan (September 5, 1986). "Going to the MAX: Your ticket to light rail". The Oregonian. p. T10.
  6. ^ a b Hamburg, Ken (March 25, 1990). "Pioneer Place arrives -- At last and in style". The Oregonian. p. P1.
  7. ^ Painter Jr., John (August 13, 1987). "Court OKs key role of county, city loses ruling on Pioneer Place". The Oregonian. p. B1.
  8. ^ Painter Jr., John (August 13, 1987). "Pioneer Place ruling slaps city". The Oregonian. p. A1.
  9. ^ Laatz, Joan (October 8, 1987). "Parking garage condemnation heads for new review". The Oregonian. p. D12.
  10. ^ Wade, Michael (October 23, 1987). "County board OKs Pioneer Place work". The Oregonian. p. C8.
  11. ^ Kirchmeier, Mark (September 29, 1989). "3-year-old MAX near turning point". The Oregonian. p. E10.
  12. ^ "Arriving with a smash [photo and caption only]". The Oregonian. March 27, 1990. A Metropolitan Area Express train breaks through a banner Monday afternoon marking the opening of a new light-rail station in front of Pioneer Place...
  13. ^ Oliver, Gordon (September 11, 2001). "Portland now 'the city that moves', mayor says [opening of MAX Red Line]". The Oregonian. p. 1.
  14. ^ Leeson, Fred (August 27, 2003). "MAX fares increase, direct service from Beaverton to PDX starts". The Oregonian. p. D2.
  15. ^ "New MAX line opens downtown". Portland Tribune. August 28, 2009. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  16. ^ "Speeding Up MAX Through Downtown". TriMet. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  17. ^ Theen, Andrew (February 25, 2020). "2 downtown MAX stations close permanently next week; changes coming to more than a dozen TriMet bus routes". The Oregonian. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  18. ^ Google (March 9, 2020). "Pioneer Square North" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  19. ^ Google (March 9, 2020). "Pioneer Square South" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  20. ^ Google (March 10, 2020). "Morrison/SW 3rd Ave MAX Station" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  21. ^ Google (March 10, 2020). "Yamhill District MAX Station" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  22. ^ "Stop ID 8335 – Mall/SW 4th Ave MAX Station, Eastbound". TriMet. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2020.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  23. ^ "Stop ID 8382 – Mall/SW 5th Ave MAX Station, Westbound". TriMet. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2020.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  24. ^ Google (March 10, 2020). "Pioneer Place/SW 5th Ave MAX Station" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  25. ^ a b Portland City Center and Transit Mall (PDF) (Map). TriMet. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 10, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  26. ^ Google (March 10, 2020). "Pioneer Courthouse" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  27. ^ Google (March 10, 2020). "Pioneer Courthouse/SW 6th Ave MAX Stn" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  28. ^ Rail System Map with transfers (PDF) (Map). TriMet. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 10, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  29. ^ "TriMet MAX Light Rail Passenger Census – Fall 2019" (PDF). TriMet. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 10, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.

External links[]

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