Light-Rail Plans for Bridgeport Village and Tualatin Stay Alive—by Just 139 Votes

Tigard residents last week approved proceeding with the next step of a proposed $2.5 billion light-rail line from Portland to Tualatin. But just barely.

The margin: 139 votes.

The final tally, which narrowed considerably from early returns, marks a comeback from 2012, when light-rail foes forced the requirement that citizens vote on any rail project.

The narrow victory—just three-tenths of 1 percent of the 25,037 votes cast—does not mean the new line will get funded or built. But a "no" vote would have stopped it in its tracks.

TriMet opened the Orange Line to Milwaukie in September 2015 and could open a line to Tualatin—including shopping meccas Cabela's and Bridgeport Village—in 2025. But getting federal funding from the new Congress will be challenging.

Willamette Week