Steel Bridge train derailment warning for future

For anyone commuting out of East Multnomah County to downtown Portland on the MAX Blue Line, your daily trip could one day take an unexpected plunge below the Willamette River.

The Portland region dodged a major transportation headache when the freight train that derailed crossing the lower deck of the Steel Bridge on April 29 did not damage it.

That is especially true for the TriMet MAX light rail trains serving all three metropolitan counties.

Although the bridge connecting East Multnomah County to downtown was shut down during the morning commute while it was inspected, the upper deck reopened by noon when no structural problems were discovered. The lower deck completely reopened when the six freight cars that derailed were removed.

The result could have been much worse, given the bridge’s age and workload.

“The Steel Bridge, which opened in 1912, is the hardest-working bridge on the Willamette River, carrying buses, cars, pedestrians, light rail, bicycles, freights trains and Amtrak trains,” said Oregon Department of Transportation Public Information Officer Don Hamilton.

The Steel Bridge has also long been considered the weak link in the regional transit system. It was never intended to carry so much traffic, creating a major choke point.

“Downtown congestion and slowdowns at the Steel Bridge don’t just impact the central city — they ripple throughout the entire region. They impact people’s ability to get where they need to go, and impact businesses’ ability to deliver goods and services. This is particularly challenging for people who live farther out and travel into or across downtown Portland,” TriMet said in a 2020 study.

The bridge is owned by Union Pacific. Amtrak and freight trains cross on the lower deck, where the derailment happened. The upper deck, where all other traffic crosses, including MAX trains, is leased by the Oregon Department of Transportation.

The two regional governments responsible for transit planning — Metro and TriMet — have proposed moving all MAX trains off the bridge in recent years. In 2017, their ”Steel Bridge Transit Improvements: Long‐Term Concept Final Report” showed a tunnel under the Willamette River would be more reliable and speed up travel times. Metro included funds to help launch such a project in its Get Moving 2020 regional transportation ballot measure. When the measure was drafted in 2019, Metro and TriMet predicted the number of MAX trains crossing the bridge every day would need to increase by 50% in 15 years to meet predicted ridership demand.

But the measure was defeated at the November 2020 election. Despite that, after the election, Metro created a website with information about the proposal to publicize the project and solicit public feedback.

“Downtown congestion and slowdowns at the Steel Bridge don’t just impact the central city — they ripple throughout the entire region. They impact people’s ability to get where they need to go, and impact businesses’ ability to deliver goods and services. This is particularly challenging for people who live farther out and travel into or across downtown Portland,” said the website, which predicted the project would be in the design phase by now.

Instead, the project has since stalled, in large part because of the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic that upended the economy—and traditional commuting patterns—beginning in early 2020. Like all other transit systems around the world, TriMet bus and light rail ridership collapsed when governments shut down businesses, schools, community gatherings, entertainment and recreational opportunities, and their own operations to slow the spread of the virus.

MAX ridership through Portland is now just 50% of pre-pandemic levels.

“One big caveat with the tunnel study is that it was completed in 2019, with the assumptions and numbers contained therein drawn from the period right before COVID hit,” said TriMet Public Information Officer Tyler Graf.

Although TriMet ridership is now increasing, travel patterns have changed since the pandemic, with fewer riders going downtown and more traveling between suburbs and employment centers. TriMet is changing its bus routes to accommodate the changes with its Forward Together planning process, but MAX lines cannot be adjusted because they are on fixed rails.

Metro, TriMet and ODOT all told the Portland Tribune no discussions are currently underway about moving MAX trains off the Steel Bridge or even significantly upgrading it. But a future derailment or a different disaster could shut the Steel Bridge down for much longer than the few hours on April 29.