Over the last two weeks, a tall, red tower crane joined the Portland skyline on the Willamette River. Rising almost 300 feet from the recently-constructed West Tower pile cap of the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Bridge, the tower crane will work through the summer on bridge construction. As of July 1, the bridge has been under construction for one year and is 41 percent complete.

Tower cranes can “build themselves” in a manner of speaking, by inserting sections near the top to grow their own height. That’s precisely what this one did—watch this timelapse video on the project Facebook page and at about 40 seconds in, you’ll see the section lifts that make the crane shoot up!

Check out the time-lapse video of the crane in action on Facebook

May 22, 2012 – Federal Transit Administrator Peter M. Rogoff signs the ceremonial Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) at a community celebration in southeast Portland. The actual document was signed earlier in the day.

Today, the Federal Transit Administration authorized the Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) for the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project.

The FFGA commits the federal government to providing 50 percent of the cost of the project, which will expand the MAX rail system to 60 miles.

The new light rail line will connect downtown Portland and Portland State University with South Waterfront, inner southeast Portland, Milwaukie and north Clackamas County.

Construction is under way, and the FFGA means the project can move forward toward completion and service in 2015.

Updates on the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project

Learn more

This rendering shows the planned design for the future OMSI/SE Water Ave MAX Station.

The Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project is hosting an online open house where you can take a look at conceptual images of future stations and structures, and download station fact sheets. The open house is available on the project’s website until Friday, March 9.

Visit the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project online open house

With obesity rates and health care costs on the rise, experts are looking at how our transportation choices affect the health of our communities. The good news is that transit not only encourages people to walk or bike as a part of their daily routine, it also helps reduce car crashes and air pollution.

So why is transit so good for our public health?

1. It encourages daily exercise: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends that adults get at least 22 minutes of moderate physical activity per day to reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, stroke and diabetes. By walking or biking to the bus stop or rail station, it’s easier to meet or exceed this goal.
2. It supports safer streets: In communities with good pedestrian infrastructure (things like wide sidewalks, safe crossings and bike connections), cars travel at slower speeds and there are fewer crashes. And residents of transit-oriented communities typically drive less, anyway.
3. It helps make our air cleaner: Transit takes cars off the road, which means less pollution and fewer cases of asthma, lung disease and lung cancer. Here in the Portland area, TriMet service eliminates more than four tons of smog-forming pollutants every day.
4. It reduces isolation: Particularly for seniors and people with disabilities, transit helps reduce isolation by providing access to grocery stores, medical services, jobs and schools.

“For the last 60-plus years, we’ve literally built our society around the automobile and getting from point A to point B as quickly as we can. Because we choose to drive rather than walk or cycle, the result is an inactive, sedentary lifestyle. Not coincidentally, obesity also became a public health issue during this period.”
— Sheldon H. Jacobson, University of Illinois researcher

“Study: Surge in obesity correlates with increased automobile usage”