Dr. Know: Orange You Glad it's MAX?

What is the city doing at the Southeast Clinton Street railroad crossing on 11th and 12th avenues?

What the fuck is the city doing at the Southeast Clinton Street railroad crossing on 11th and 12th avenues? The whole place has been under construction for years.

—No Wit

I sometimes worry there's a whole subset of Portlanders who get their news exclusively from this column. For these folks (so I imagine), if it doesn't show up in this space accompanied by an ample helping of drug references, it didn't happen.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it's quite an honor to be the Peter Jennings of the poorly informed. On the other, how am I ever going to break it to y'all about President Kennedy?

Still, you shouldn't feel bad, No Wit—you are far from the only person in town who's still somewhat hazy on the fact that, yes, TriMet is really building a MAX line through Southeast. The morass you've been cursing on your daily commute will eventually congeal into the Clinton Street MAX station.

The new Orange Line will start at Portland State University, cross that new bridge I vainly tried to get you to notice in my Sept. 26, 2012, column, and run southward through Milwaukie, finally ending up in Clackamas County, where local villagers armed with pitchforks and torches will set it on fire.

OK, maybe not, but some folks down there—probably the same ones who nodded in approval at those "Stop Portland Creep" billboards—aren't happy with the project. Because, you know, the only thing keeping tattooed performance-artist types from flocking to downtown Milwaukie is the lack of affordable rail transit.

Just last week, the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners voted to put portions of the plan to a public vote. Since the county is already legally committed, it's not clear the vote will matter. But, hey, at least the voters will be on record as hating us. 

QUESTIONS? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com

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