Editing MAX Light Rail (section)

===Early beginnings===
{{Main|MAX Blue Line}}
[[File:Portland Bombardier LRV turning at 11th & Morrison (1987).jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|An original [[Bombardier Transportation|Bombardier]] light rail train entering the [[Library/Southwest 9th Avenue and Galleria/Southwest 10th Avenue stations#11th Avenue loop tracks|11th Avenue turnaround loop]] in downtown Portland in 1987]]

At the height of local [[Highway revolts in the United States|freeway revolts]] in the 1970s, studies for public transit began using funds made available by the [[Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973]].<ref name="Selinger"/>{{rp|20}} These funds had been intended for the [[Mount Hood Freeway]] and [[Interstate 505 (Oregon)|Interstate 505]] (I-505) projects,<ref name="Selinger"/>{{rp|30}} which were abandoned amid strong opposition from the Portland city government and neighborhood associations.<ref name="Hell">{{cite web |url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-4212-highway-to-hell.html |title=Highway to Hell |last=Young |first=Bob |date=March 8, 2005 |newspaper=[[Willamette Week]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917044251/https://www.wweek.com/portland/article-4212-highway-to-hell.html |archive-date=September 17, 2018 |access-date=July 26, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Effort to Stop">{{cite news |last=Paglin |first=Morton |title=Effort to stop freeway remembered |newspaper=The Oregonian |date=June 28, 2004 |page=B6}}</ref> In 1973, Governor [[Tom McCall]] assembled a task force that helped determine several alternative options, including a [[Bus rapid transit|busway]] and light rail.<ref>{{cite report |date=1975 |title=West Portland Park-and-ride, Pacific Hwy, I-5, Multnomah County: Environmental Impact Statement |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |page=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7qo1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA11 |access-date=July 26, 2018 |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731220542/https://books.google.com/books?id=7qo1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA11 |url-status=live }}</ref> Local jurisdictions originally favored the busway alternative but support for light rail prevailed following the mode's inclusion in a 1977 [[environmental impact statement]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Meetings on transit ideas slated |newspaper=The Oregonian |date=May 4, 1975 |page=C2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Tri-Met board backs Banfield rail option |newspaper=The Oregonian |date=February 8, 1977 |page=1}}</ref> The proposal became known as the Banfield light rail project, named for the [[Banfield Freeway]], a segment of [[Interstate 84 in Oregon|I-84]] that part of the alignment followed. TriMet approved the project in September 1978.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hortsch |first=Dan |date=September 27, 1978 |title=Tri-Met board votes to back Banfield light-rail project |newspaper=The Oregonian |page=F1}}</ref> Construction of the {{convert|15.3|mi|km|adj=on|abbr=out}}, 27-station line between [[Library/Southwest 9th Avenue and Galleria/Southwest 10th Avenue stations|11th Avenue]] in downtown Portland and [[Cleveland Avenue station|Cleveland Avenue]] in Gresham began in March 1982.<ref>{{cite news |last=Federman |first=Stan |date=March 27, 1982 |title=At ground-breaking: Festivities herald transitway |newspaper=The Oregonian |page=A12}}</ref> Inaugural service commenced on September 5, 1986.<ref>{{cite news |last=Koberstein |first=Paul |date=September 7, 1986 |title=Riders swamp light rail as buses go half-full and schedules go by the way |newspaper=The Oregonian |page=A1}}</ref> Less than two months before opening, TriMet adopted the name "Metropolitan Area Express", or "MAX", following an employee contest.<ref>{{cite news |last=Austin |first=David |date=July 26, 1986 |title=MAX winning moniker for $214 million light-rail line |newspaper=The Oregonian |page=C2}}</ref><ref name="selinger-2019"/>{{rp|46}}

As the planning of a light rail line to the west side gained momentum in the mid-1980s, the original MAX line came to be referred to as the Eastside MAX to distinguish it from what would become the Westside MAX extension.<ref name="max-blue-line-eastside-factsheet-2016">{{cite web |url=https://trimet.org/publications/pdf/factsheets/max-blueline-eastside.pdf |title=Banfield Light Rail Eastside MAX Blue Line |publisher=TriMet |date=July 2016 |access-date=August 2, 2018 |archive-date=May 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509045244/http://trimet.org/publications/pdf/factsheets/max-blueline-eastside.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Early proposals called for the extension to terminate just west of the [[Beaverton, Oregon|Beaverton]]–[[Hillsboro, Oregon|Hillsboro]] boundary on [[Willow Creek/Southwest 185th Avenue Transit Center|185th Avenue]] in [[Washington County, Oregon|Washington County]].<ref name="Washington County EIS">{{cite report |date=1994 |title=Hillsboro Extension of the Westside Corridor Project, Washington County: Environmental Impact Statement |publisher=[[Federal Transit Administration]] |page=P1–P5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ih03AQAAMAAJ |access-date=July 29, 2018}}</ref> A dispute between TriMet and the [[Urban Mass Transportation Administration]] over a financing plan suspended the project for several years but planning resumed in 1988 and studies were completed in 1991.<ref name="Washington County EIS"/><ref name="Tri-Met heats up">{{cite news |last=Federman |first=Stan |title=Tri-Met heats up study for westside light rail |newspaper=The Oregonian |date=November 7, 1987 |page=E14}}</ref> Staunch lobbying by local and state officials led by Hillsboro Mayor [[Shirley Huffman]] forced an extension of the line further west to downtown Hillsboro in 1993.<ref name="Fiery">{{cite news |last=Hamilton |first=Don |title=Shirley Huffman, fiery lobbyist, earns praise; Hard work and a sharp phone call put light-rail trains into downtown Hillsboro |work=The Oregonian |date=February 23, 2000 |page=E2}}</ref> Construction of the 20-station, {{convert|18|mi|km|0|adj=on|abbr=out}} line began that August with the excavation of the [[Robertson Tunnel]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Oliver |first=Gordon |title=Groundbreaking ceremonies set to launch project |newspaper=The Sunday Oregonian |date=August 8, 1993 |at="Westside Light Rail: Making Tracks" (special section), p. R1}}</ref> The Westside MAX opened in two stages following delays in tunneling: the section from 11th Avenue to [[Kings Hill/Southwest Salmon Street station|Kings Hill/Southwest Salmon Street]] was opened in 1997 and the section to [[Hatfield Government Center station|Hatfield Government Center]]—the segment's current western terminus—was opened in 1998.<ref name="New MAX cars">{{cite news |last=O'Keefe |first=Mark |title=New MAX cars smooth the way for wheelchairs |work=The Oregonian |date=September 1, 1997 |page=B12}}</ref> The resulting {{convert|33|mi|km|0|adj=on}} MAX line began operating as a single, through service on September 12, 1998.<ref name="end">{{cite news |last1=Oliver |first1=Gordon |last2=Hamilton |first2=Don |title=Go west young MAX |work=The Oregonian |date=September 9, 1998 |page=C1}}</ref> This service was renamed the [[MAX Blue Line|Blue Line]] in 2001 after TriMet adopted color designations for its light rail routes.<ref name="taut-dec2000">{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Systems News [regular news section] |magazine=[[Tramways & Urban Transit]] |publisher=[[Ian Allan Publishing]] |date=December 2000 |page=471 |location=UK |issn=1460-8324 |quote=With the light rail system due to expand to two services in September 2001, and three in 2004 (with all three using the same routing and stops in the city centre), Tri-Met has decided to assign route colours as follows ...}}</ref>