This studio project was organized around the plans for a new TriMet light rail line to Tigard, Tualatin, and Washington County. Though this Southwest Corridor project is still in the early phases of planning and design, the studio collaborated with TriMet planners and the City of Tigard to visualize the future of a site that is likely to become a major station area. In addition, the site is seen as a critical location for a Park and Ride structure as this point marks where traffic into Portland drastically increases. The merge from Pacific Highway (99W) onto Interstate 5 (I-5) lies one-half mile east of the site, and the intersection of the two sees daily congestion and long waiting traffic.
This site provides opportunities beyond transit. Older development near the site has potential to be acquired by the project for use as Park & Ride, LRT station, and for potential development of parking and transportation-related uses. Other adjacent sites can be critical
purchases for developers given the benefits of the transit station. The City of Tigard supports plans for these future developments that include sustainable transit-oriented design, and restoration of environmental assets, such as Red Rock Creek, as opposed to box commercial development that maintains an auto-oriented focus. Students were tasked with considering the area surrounding the future station site as well as places that may be developed in later phases.
The class divided into groups of various sizes, each focusing on a different approach to the transit-oriented development (TOD) proposed around the new TriMet station. Most teams developed 80- and 40-scale designs to create a cohesive master plan across the site before taking a more individual approach on an area with a smaller extent and more detail. Groups included:
• “Stormwater Impacts”, Chrissy Stillman
This design focuses on Red Rock Creek as its own entity. Chrissy calculated on and off-site storm water entering the creek, its ephemeral flooding zones, and the impacts of more hardscape in the area. Much of her design strategies for reducing the
“flashiness” of the creek occurred east of the study area toward I-5.
• “68th and Rock Creek Parking Structure”, Kailee Bell
This design focuses on the opportunity of an off-site parking structure west of SW 68th Parkway that could provide rooftop amenities and access to a multimodal path along the bridged rail line leading into the station. This alternative solution frees up space
for transit-oriented development in the site south of the station by providing at least half the required parking within a reasonable off-site distance.
• “Place over Parking”, Thomas Copper and Nick Sund
This design focuses on the maximum integration of parking in a high-density transit-oriented development site adjacent to the light rail station. This team focused on TOD1, the second thing likely to be built by developers after the station.
• “Positively Tigard” Adam DeHeer and Yumna Imtiaz
This team focused on a design of the station and the transit-oriented development with an approach of impact mitigation and sustainability. This group focused on the station plaza and TOD1 and worked closely with Chrissy Stillman for assessing storm
water impact of their design proposal.
• “Tigard Terraces”, Brianna Heese, Emma Stone, Bocong Li, and Tori Murphy
This team focused on the topography of the site to integrate a medium density transit-oriented development. The team proposed designs for the station plaza, TOD1, Red Rock Creek, and TOD2 to meet the long-term phasing goals of TriMet and Tigard.
Students generally found the site challenging in terms of balancing programmatic requirements with creating livable and enjoyable spaces. The student designs offer the best attempts to combine the two goals and do so in many ways. The required amount of parking was a challenge, and most students found that the best way to create a functioning transit-oriented development was either to invest in a parking structure below development or to site the parking across SW 68th Parkway. Additionally, if Tigard and TriMet desire sustainable and ecological designs, many teams suggest partnering with developers now and planning for elements to be incorporated. Finally, Red Rock Creek presents a potential flood problem for nearby development. Teams recommend multiple ways to reduce the flashiness of the creek, such as capturing stormwater on site for any new development.
Read the final student report delivered to the local gov/community partner.
Sustainable City Year Program Contact Info
Megan Banks
Sustainable City Year Program Manager
mbanks@uoregon.edu
(541) 346-6395
University Faculty Contact
Rob Ribe
Landscape Architecture
Professor
rribe@uoregon.edu
541-346-3650
Local Government / Community Contact
Jeb Doran
TriMet
Senior Project Manager
doranj@trimet.org
503-962-2146