Orange Line Featured in May LAM Magazine
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Check out the May issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine with a feature article about the TriMet Orange Line Portland –Milwaukie Light Rail (PMLR) project. GreenWorks was part of the team that assisted TriMet in the regional effort to extend light rail service from downtown Portland to downtown Milwaukie and North Clackamas County. The Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail project is a vital transportation element in the region’s strategy to manage growth and build livable communities for future generations. GreenWorks provided landscape architectural services for the final design of the Portland Milwaukie Light Rail including planting and irrigation design, green infrastructure, sustainability initiatives, and art coordination. The team also assisted in coordination and collaboration efforts with TriMet, Clackamas County, Multnomah County, the cities of Portland, Milwaukie and Oregon City, the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Portland Development Commission.
The new bridge built for the Orange Line, Tilikum Crossing, is named after the Chinook word for people to promote this unifying vision for the project. The opening of the Orange Line poses a new manner of viewing the cities of Portland and Milwaukie as connected communities. Rail tracks are all too often a symbol of division. The design for the Orange Line rejects this archetype. Our landscape approach was informed by the connectivity that is inherent to the project and will strengthen the region over time. The project is a catalyst to fundamentally heal the urban fabric socially, culturally, and environmentally. This concept is manifested in every detail of the project, from the overall vision down to the plants selected. Our design team chose fast-growing, pioneer species that colonize and begin the process of natural repair to the site disrupted by the new infrastructure. These plantings quickly create mass and scape for an immediate recognizable identify. The design also includes stable, mature plant communities to support and achieve the long-term aspirations, which stich the neighborhoods and the communities to the station areas. The Orange Line PMLR project is above all about connecting people and bringing economic vibrancy to the Portland Milwaukie transit corridor.
https://landscapearchitecturemagazine.org/ (also available at Powell’s City of Books)