PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – TriMet’s A Better Red project will soon extend its MAX Red Line to the Fair Complex-Hillsboro station, but not before one final transit disruption.
Starting Saturday, March 16, the MAX Blue Line will avoid the area surrounding the Fair Complex/Hillsboro Airport MAX Station. In the meantime, shuttle buses will take riders between Orenco Station and Hatfield Government Center in Hillsboro.
The disruption is scheduled to last through Sunday, March 24.
TriMet officials say this part of their A Better Red project will extend 10 more Red Line stops along the existing Blue Line stations between Beaverton and Hillsboro, offering more passengers a direct route to PDX. It is expected to open in late August.
Until then, TriMet encourages riders to be on the lookout for signs about closed stations, though staff members will also be available to help riders make their connections.
“We share our riders’ excitement. We’re on the home stretch of what has been a massive undertaking! Thank you for being so patient these past couple of years,” the transit service said in a statement. “A Better Red has been TriMet’s largest MAX project in nearly a decade, and we couldn’t have made the progress we have without your patience and understanding.”
The MAX red line station recently reopened at the Portland International Airport after a six-week closure that required MAX passengers to take shuttles to and from the airport – which added as much as an hour to their standard commute.
The project added two new bridges over I-84 and I-205, taking passengers between PDX and the new Gateway North MAX Station. It is the first new MAX station in nine years.
