Beaverton hears locally preferred alternative for TV Highway bus rapid transit; funding, safety and ODOT pavement concerns raised

Metro and TriMet officials presented the locally preferred alternative (LPA) for the TV Highway Transit and Safety Project to the Beaverton City Council, describing a bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor with station platforms, enhanced crossings and operational upgrades intended to improve safety and travel time for riders.

The project team said the LPA is designed to support TriMet Line 57 — the corridor’s highest-ridership bus line — by adding signals or rapid-flashing beacons at stations, raised platforms with curbs, lighting, seating, real-time arrival signs, transit signal priority (TSP) and all-door boarding using articulated vehicles. The presenters said the package aims to move the corridor from planning into construction through a Federal Transit Administration Small Starts capital grant and a regional local funding match.

Metro planner Jess Sadeb said the steering committee will be asked to adopt the LPA on Feb. 13 and emphasized the project’s safety goals. “This project is really seeking to improve safety and the travel experience for transit riders on TV Highway,” Sadeb said. She and TriMet staff noted that TV Highway is on the region’s high-injury network and that many crashes involve people walking to or from transit.

TriMet Capital Planning manager David Alwis described rider experience and operations measures the LPA would deliver, including station spacing of roughly every third mile, station-level crossings (signals or rapid-flashing beacons), raised curbed platforms where feasible, improved lighting and real-time arrival signs, and transit signal priority. Alwis cited the Division FX2 line as an example where TSP produced roughly 20% travel-time improvements and said the corridor’s improved fiber infrastructure supports TSP deployment.

Project scale and funding: staff said an earlier concept cost roughly $550 million; the steering committee asked the team to redesign to a more achievable scope and returned with a roughly $300 million LPA. The team said $150 million is the federal Small Starts cap the project would seek, requiring a 50% local match. The project’s current funding strategy asks regional partners to provide about $100 million in local funds and to request an additional roughly $50 million from the state during the upcoming legislative session. Staff stressed that all partner commitments would be contingent on each jurisdiction’s formal approvals.

Council response and concerns: Mayor Lacey Beatty and several councilors welcomed the focus on safety and transit access but raised practical concerns. Beatty said Beaverton faces competing priorities for local transportation funds — notably the city’s Loop project — and asked Metro to help identify funding paths that would not cannibalize the city’s own budget. "Our local match is going to be coming from the same funding pot that our project and our bureau is prioritizing," Beatty said.

Several councilors pressed the project team about pavement and maintenance. Beatty and others said TV Highway pavement is in poor condition and noted that ODOT owns the road. Jess Sadeb and TriMet staff said some intersections in Beaverton would be reconstructed as part of the project (Murray Boulevard and 170th Avenue were cited as examples) and that limited paving would be done to tie project work back into the existing roadway. ODOT’s regional manager, Ryan Windheimer, was described as participating on the steering committee; staff said ODOT is prioritizing limited maintenance and that wholesale repaving of the entire corridor is not included in the current scope.

Jurisdictional transfer and fallback plans: councilors asked whether jurisdictional transfer of TV Highway from ODOT to local agencies had been considered. Sadeb said Metro’s past transfer studies did not place TV Highway on any near-term transfer list; the corridor currently lacks a local owner willing to accept full responsibility. Staff also described a lower-cost, nonfederal fallback project that would deliver fewer benefits but could proceed without Small Starts funding.

Timeline and next steps: staff said TriMet plans to apply for Project Development (PD) this summer; by that time the project must demonstrate $25 million in committed PD funds. If the project advances, jurisdictions would be asked to commit remaining local match in the late summer–early fall 2027 timeframe. Service in the LPA scenario was described as targeted to begin in early 2030s, contingent on funding and approvals.

Council member Hartmeyer Prigg — the city’s representative on the project steering committee — said she would support the LPA at the steering committee and praised the multi-jurisdiction collaboration. "We needed to look at this together and we needed to really show up in safety and in transit for our community," Hartmeyer Prigg said.

The council did not take a formal vote on the LPA at the meeting; staff asked council for a work-session direction and said they would return with more detailed materials during the city’s spring budget process. The steering committee vote anticipated next week remains the project’s immediate decision point.

Why this matters: TV Highway is a major regional corridor linking Beaverton with Hillsboro, Cornelius and Forest Grove. The project team said Line 57 carries more than 6,000 daily riders and that corridor improvements aim to reduce pedestrian crashes, improve access to transit for people with limited vehicle access and speed transit trips.

The project team invited Beaverton staff to continue coordination on station siting, sidewalk tie-ins, signal timing and potential avenues to secure local match funding without undermining the city’s top-priority local projects.