I-205 Transitway
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The I-205 Transitway is a partially-built busway along the wide right-of-way of the I-205 freeway in Portland, Oregon. The transitway, completely independent of the freeway lanes, was planned in the mid and late 1970s as part of the final segment of I-205. Only a graded route with several entrance ramps and two underpass tunnels under I-205 were built. No bridges or overpasses were built. The transitway's right-of-way started in the median of I-205 near Portland International Airport and ran south to the junction of I-205 & I-84 where it continued through an underpass under the northbound lanes of I-205. From here it ran east of the northbound I-205 lanes to just north of SE Division St. where it once again entered into a tunnel under both directions of I-205 and ran along the west side of the I-205 southbound lanes to SE Foster St. where the busway ended. In the mid-1970s, county officials negotiated a number of improvements to the proposed I-205 freeway with ODOT in order to win their support, among them was the transitway, a bike path and reconfigured interchanges. The transitway was intended to connect into the proposed Banfield Transitway at Gateway which originally was to have been a busway and would have run along the I-84 Banfield Freeway to the Lloyd District. By the mid to late 1970s, light rail became the selected transit mode in the Banfield corridor and opened in 1986 as Portland's first light rail line known as the Banfield MAX line (later becoming the MAX Blue Line). When light rail was selected over the busway option in the Banfield corridor, the fate of the proposed I-205 busway was sealed (as the busway made little sense without a downtown connection) although the corridor was, since the late 70s, considered a potential future light rail line.
Becoming a Light Rail Line
The portion of the route north from Gateway opened in September 2001 as the MAX Red Line light rail line. The portion south from Gateway (and beyond to the Clackamas Town Center) will become the MAX Green Line light rail line slated to open in late 2009.
Proposed Stations
- Sandy-Columbia (became Parkrose Sumner Transit Center MAX Red Line Station in 2001)
- Gateway (became Gateway Transit Center MAX station in 1986)
- Mall 205 (will become SE Main St Station on the MAX Green Line in 2009)
- Division (will become SE Division St Station on the MAX Green Line in 2009)
- Powell (will become SE Powell Blvd. Station on the MAX Green Line in 2009)
- Holgate (will become SE Holgate Blvd. Station on the MAX Green Line in 2009)
- Lents (will become SE Foster Rd. Station on the MAX Green Line in 2009)
Aerial Photos
These are the more noticeable parts of the busway's right-of-way. Look closely as the route appears as a faded brown path.- [Aerial Photo of I-205 Transitway at SE Holgate St. (Note bus ramp and dirt path)]
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