Removing the “blight” from Portland and making this city second to none in the United States in the way of transportation facilities is the purpose of proposals by W. W. Amburn, railroad location engineer, for a unified terminal and transportation system. These proposals include an elevated loop for street cars, shown by the dotted lines; a series of surface street car loops in the downtown district, shown by the heavy unbroken lines; simplified railroad freight and passenger train trackage, making use of present industrial and service tracks as well as new tracks paralleling the east side river front and connecting to major classification yards not shown on the map; a new east side union depot, and stage and truck terminals on the west side. The plan also makes provision for an east side seawall, Front-street truck tunnel and two future bridges as well as a new Morrison bridge. One of these future bridges would connect with the proposed union station, while the other would be a truck bridge for motor freight transportation and connecting with the Front-street tunnel and the truck terminal. The cost of these two structures is estimated at $6,000,000 each. An elevated airport over the railroad tracks, a novel project which is being considered in several other cities at present, is suggested as a future possibility. Beautification of both sides of the riverfront by means of parks is included in the extensive proposals.
Portland as the commanding city on the Pacific coast with mass transportation facilities second to none is the aim of a revolutionary proposal to centralize street-car, rail and motor services. The proposal, submitted by W. W. Amburn, for 40 years a railroad location engineer of high standing, has met with the approval of interested organization as the Oregon Building congress, the Presidents’ council and individual citizens. Portland is suffering from traffic disregulation and the entire city as well as the water-front district has been blighted, according to Mr. Amburn. In order to remedy this situation and make Portland the thriving busy city it rightfully should be because of its vast natural tributary resources, Mr. Amburn proposes:
“The topographic situation and structural development of Portland is such that there is an increasing amount of traffic interference in the area between Union avenue on the east side and Third street on the west side,” Mr. Amburn said yesterday. “All of the north and south rail movement and much of the east and west rail movement enters, passes through and is exchanged in this narrow area.
“There are evidences that the natural flow of traffic from a wide supporting territory is being diverted by the problem of congestion in this area. Much of the truck traffic of Oregon and southern Washington passes in and out and through this area. Here are the warehouses, industrial tracks and distribution yards for the larger part of Portland’s population.
“While it appears evident that this proposed elevated trans-river loop street-car line has sufficient merit of itself to warrant its construction, it seems some similar elevated method of street-car transportation must become the key to a coordinated transportation system that will permit traffic of all kinds to flow freely through this congested ‘bottle neck.’
“This proposed method would serve equally each side of the river and would give unity of development that the city now lacks.”
The proposed elevated loop would take all street cars off the Broadway, Burnside and Morrison bridges, the operated cars using the upper deck of the Steel bridge and the Hawthorne bridge. This would bring about a net increase in bridge capacity in rush-hours roughly equivalent to a new bridge. The elevated loop would connect with the Steel and Hawthorne bridges, which would be closed to motor vehicle traffic and would follow Third avenue on the east side and Second avenue on the west side. The loop would carry three tracks, one for light standard-gauge trains and cars as used in suburban service, one for regular street cars serving the east side, and the third for shuttle trains traveling in the opposite direction and making all street stops.
The transfer system would be direct and automatic, the same as used in the New York subway and on the loop in Chicago.
All present east side street cars would enter the loop at key points, such as Hawthorne boulevard, Morrison, Ankeny and the approach to the Steel bridge. Only slight rearrangement of tracks would be necessary.
West side service would be rerouted by a series of downtown surface loops using present trackage with only a small amount of new track required. These loops would be: