The Price Tag on Light Rail to Bridgeport Village Has Grown by Nearly a Billion Dollars

The dream of riding the MAX to Cabela's lives on. It's just a very expensive dream.

MAX Orange Line opening day. (TriMet)
By Aaron Mesh

A proposed Southwest Corridor light rail line could range in cost between $2.64 billion and $2.86 billion, according to a new report.

The light rail line would run for 12 miles between the South Park Blocks in downtown Portland and Bridgeport Village in Tigard.

On June 7, Metro released a 293-page draft environmental impact statement for the project, which includes several alternative designs that are both more and less expensive.

It's a big price hike from the initial cost estimate in 2016, which was $1.8 billion. Metro says the earlier estimate included far less detail and was based on 2014 dollars. The new estimate includes higher land prices and is based on 2024 dollars.

The projected cost of operating the line is $22 million a year.

The regional planning agency will now take public comment for 45 days. Construction could begin as early as 2022 and take four years to complete, although funding has not yet been secured.

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