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20th Anniversary Of Portland's Max Light Rail Line

Date: Sept. 6, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Transportation


20TH ANNIVERSARY OR PORTLAND'S MAX LIGHT RAIL LINE -- (Extensions of Remarks - September 06, 2006)

SPEECH OF HON. EARL BLUMENAUER OF OREGON
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2006

* Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, today we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the opening of Portland's pioneering MAX--Metropolitan Area Express--one of America's first light-rail lines. Since 1986, MAX has been one of our region's most visible icons of livability--and has served as an inspiration to cities across the Nation and around the world. Instead of building yet another expensive and destructive freeway that would have divided and degraded Southeast Portland, we created MAX and coaxed higher-value investments from Federal transportation dollars. While this was certainly controversial at the time, our decision led to a renaissance for both Gresham and Portland and increased value for our entire region.

* This anniversary gives us the opportunity to think about how our current decisions will be celebrated in another 20 years. If we are to continue our success, we must leverage what we've accomplished in the years ahead.

* With light-rail, that's exactly what we're doing. In the last 20 years we have built three more extensions: Westside MAX, Airport MAX, and Interstate MAX. We are also hard at work on extending the system to the south and are hopeful that the next project will cross the Columbia River, expanding our regional system to include Vancouver, Washington.

* The overwhelming popularity and success of our light-rail system is a testimony to wise investments, meaningful public participation, and regional leadership that took the political risks to make it all come together. The result has been a regional transportation system that truly supports the communities it serves and provides people with reliable and efficient choices to cope with congestion, skyrocketing oil prices, and global warming.

* My heartiest congratulations to TriMet, elected officials, business leaders, and citizens throughout the Portland region for this amazing success story.

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