Pioneer Square South andPioneer Square North are apair oflight rail stations inPortland, Oregon, United States, served byTriMet as part ofMAX Light Rail. Located atPioneer Courthouse Square indowntown Portland, the stations are built into thesidewalks of Southwest Yamhill and Morrison streets between Broadway and 6th Avenue. Each station comprises oneside platform, and trains traveling eastbound stop at Pioneer Square South, while trains traveling westbound stop at Pioneer Square North.
The Pioneer Square stations are among the 27 original stations of theBanfield Light Rail Project, which built the Metropolitan Area Express (MAX), Portland's first light rail line. They opened along with the inaugural service of MAX on September 5, 1986. The stations are served by theBlue Line, which operates betweenHatfield Government Center station inHillsboro andCleveland Avenue station inGresham, and theRed Line, which operates betweenHillsboro Airport/Fairgrounds station andPortland Airport station. TheYellow Line had served the stations from May 2004 until August 2009 when the line was rerouted to thePortland Transit Mall.
The Pioneer Square stations, along with thePioneer Courthouse/Southwest 6th and Pioneer Place/Southwest 5th stations located oneblock east, mark the onlytransfer point where riders can board any of the five MAX lines.
The Pioneer Square stations occupy thesidewalk facing Southwest Yamhill and Morrison streets between Broadway and 6th Avenue atPioneer Courthouse Square indowntown Portland. The square, commonly referred to as "Portland's Living Room", is situated on a 40,006-square-foot (3,716.7 m2)city block in the center of downtown. It features several pieces of artwork, including theWaterfall Fountain, awater feature built of granite, and theWeather Machine andAllow Me sculptures.[2][3] Oregon's firstStarbucks outlet sits on the northwest corner of the square,[4] while a newstelevision studio forKGW called "Studio on the Square" occupies the southeast corner.[5] Neighboring office towers include theAmerican Bank Building to the north and theJackson Tower and 6Y building to the south.[6]Nordstrom occupies the block to the west.
The downtown city block bound by Morrison and Yamhill streets to the north and south and 6th Avenue and Broadway to the east and west had been occupied by various structures,[7] including Portland's firstpublic school,[8][9] thePortland Hotel,[10] and a two-storyparking garage.[7] In 1969, block ownerMeier & Frank requested a permit to construct an 800-car parking garage at the site,[11] which thePortland City Council rejected following a series of heated public hearings.[12] The controversial proposal led the city and local businesses to pursue a comprehensive downtown plan that envisioned turning the site into a public space instead.[13][14] After negotiating with Meier & Frank, the city purchased the property and in 1980, announced a national design competition for aplaza that would be called "Pioneer Courthouse Square".[7]
Portland's first light rail line, which planners referred to as theBanfield Light Rail Project, received federal approval for construction in September 1980. Just over a year later, TriMet published a conceptual design report of the project that outlined a 27-station, 15.1-mile (24.3 km) line and included a pair of light rail stations at Pioneer Courthouse Square. The plans called for a pair of platforms along the north and south ends of the square on Morrison and Yamhill streets.[15]: 37–38
Construction of the line commenced in April 1983 inGresham and largely progressed from east to west,[16][17] with the downtown segment among the final sections to be completed.[18] Street and sidewalk reconstruction work finally reached downtown in March the following year.[19] While work continued on the line, the city finished building the square and dedicated it on April 6, 1984.[20][21] By March 1986, major light rail construction work had ceased.[18] Line testing in downtown began with the arrival of the first light rail car two months later.[22][23]
On September 5, 1986, the light rail line, which TriMet officially named theMetropolitan Area Express (MAX), opened to the public.[24] A three-day celebration took place across the route, including at Pioneer Courthouse Square, which hosted an opening ceremony and several concerts.[25] Over 3,000 people gathered at the square to welcome the 11:45 am arrival of the first train from Gresham.[26]
Until 1998, MAX only ran from11th Avenue in downtown Portland toCleveland Avenue in central Gresham, with a stop at the Pioneer Square stations.[24] In September 1998, TriMet extended MAX service farther west toHatfield Government Center in downtownHillsboro inWashington County with the opening of theWestside MAX extension. Three years later, theRed Line became the second line to serve the Pioneer Square stations following the opening of the Airport MAX extension, which introduced anairport rail link between downtown Portland andPortland International Airport. The original service between Hillsboro and Gresham was subsequently renamed the Blue Line.[27] In September 2003, TriMet extended the Red Line westward toBeaverton Transit Center.[28] From 2004 to 2009, theYellow Line, which runs to theExpo Center in North Portland, also stopped at these stations until TriMet rerouted it to the light rail tracks on Portland Transit Mall in August 2009.[29]
Each station comprises oneside platform as MAX operates in aone-way pair along the Yamhill–Morrison segment.[15]: 37–38 Pioneer Courthouse Square is situated between the two platforms.[30]: 6–6 Amenities includeticket vending machines, garbage cans, shelters, and schedule information displays.[31][32] TriMet's ticket office is located inside the visitor information center on the west side of the square between the Waterfall Fountain. Fares may be purchased at the ticket office or from ticket vending machines on the platforms.[30]: 6–6
The Pioneer Square stations are served by two MAX lines: the Blue Line, which operates from Hatfield Government Center station in Hillsboro in the west to Cleveland Avenue station in Gresham in the east, and the MAX Red Line, which operates from Hillsboro Airport/Fairgrounds station in the west to Portland Airport station in the east.[31][32][33] From the stations, westbound trains take approximately 25 minutes to reach Beaverton Transit Center and 50 minutes to reach Hatfield Government Center station.[34] Eastbound trains take approximately 35 minutes to reach Portland International Airport station and 50 minutes to reach Cleveland Avenue station.[35][36] The stations together recorded an average 5,123 riders on weekdays in fall 2019.[1]
TriMet considers the Pioneer Courthouse Square vicinity atransit hub.[30]: 6–6 It is the only point in the MAX system where all five existing light rail services interconnect.[37] The northbound light rail tracks on the Portland Transit Mall run along the immediate east side of the Pioneer Square station platforms on 6th Avenue; this provides a transfer to the MAX platform ofPioneer Courthouse/Southwest 6th station across the street,[38] served by theGreen and Yellow lines.[37] On the opposite end of this adjacent block, which is occupied by thePioneer Courthouse,[39] is the southbound MAX station, Pioneer Place/Southwest 5th;[40] this station is served by the Green andOrange lines.[37]
The Pioneer Square stations also facilitate transfers to TriMet andC-Tran buses serving the Portland Transit Mall,[37][41] including a future connection toFX–Division via stops 5th and Salmon and 6th and Taylor.[42][43]
Ralph L. Mowatt, a welder for Portland General Electric Co., cuts iron beam in street at Southwest First Avenue and Morrison Street on Friday as construction on the Banfield light-rail project moved downtown this week with utilities beginning to relocate lines.
The first Tri-Met light-rail car to appear downtown is towed up Southwest Morrison Street Thursday. It will be open for public inspection at downtown locations for the next week.
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