Transforming transit with community-driven design: Alta reimagines access, safety, and connectivity along TriMet’s Southwest Corridor.

Alta played a vital role in shaping TriMet’s Southwest Corridor Light Rail project, helping bring active transportation to the forefront of this transformative urban design. As the Active Transportation expert, Alta’s team designed station areas and access routes for the corridor’s 13 stations, integrating Complete Streets principles to support safe, accessible, and sustainable commuting options for the community.

To maximize accessibility, Alta led mobility studies and a bicycle catchment area analysis, exploring how bike-friendly each station could be. By pinpointing the highest-priority projects, Alta recommended enhancements to be implemented directly by TriMet or partner organizations, expanding the reach and impact of this ambitious rail project. A key innovation came with Alta’s design expertise on Barbur Boulevard, where they crafted raised protected bike lanes, protected intersections, and shared streets, making the corridor safe for everyone, whether on foot, bike, or transit.

Alta’s custom logic model for protected intersections streamlined the design team’s workflow, allowing them to tackle the preliminary engineering of complex intersections efficiently. This model cut through the intricacies of corner design, providing a strategic blueprint that enabled swift, cost-effective progress toward 30% design completion.

This forward-thinking approach brings a new vision for transportation to life, blending functionality with community-driven design that makes TriMet’s Southwest Corridor accessible and inviting for all.