TriMet to wrap up Gresham light-rail project

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) next month will complete its year-long signal and communication improvement project on the MAX Blue light-rail line in Gresham, Oregon.

TriMet crews will replace a rubber rail boot and repave asphalt near a rail crossing at Northwest Eastman Parkway; replace signal equipment and reroute signal conduits and cables on the line; and repair the Fairview Creek wooden trestle bridge. 

The seven-day closure from Oct. 11 to Oct. 17 will allow crews to work on the upper and lower portions of the bridge, replacing wood supports and ties to create a more durable structure and allow trains to move more smoothly over the bridge, TriMet officials said in a press release.

The Fairview Creek trestle is the only wood structure in TriMet’s system that trains pass over. Built in the 1940s to carry freight trains, TriMet purchased the trestle in the early 1980s when the original Blue Line was being developed.