What follows is one of the many articles in the Mercury‘s 2026 Transportation issue. Find a print copy here, subscribe to get a copy mailed to you here, and if you’re feeling generous and want to keep these types of articles coming, support us here.—eds.
In February, after years of planning and sometimes-contentious community conversations, TriMet leaders announced the agency intended to build bus-priority lanes along most of 82nd Avenue in Portland. The news was met with relief from transit and safety advocates who have long made it clear that the ongoing effort to transform 82nd must include major public transit improvements.
Currently, 82nd Avenue is served by TriMet’s Line 72, which has the highest ridership of any bus line in Oregon. Many people who live along the corridor and in surrounding neighborhoods are reliant on the bus, but it is often delayed due to traffic congestion on the busy thoroughfare.
Under the plan approved in February, TriMet would implement what’s known as business access and transit (BAT) lanes on 82nd Avenue. These bus lanes, designed to prioritize transit capacity while still enabling car traffic to use them to turn, would ideally speed up bus service and make TriMet a more reliable transportation option for people traveling on 82nd. If all goes according to plan, the project could be completed as soon as 2029.
But TriMet’s February announcement came with a caveat. The agency will need to secure at least $8 million more in funding to move ahead with the full project, estimated to cost $350 million in total. Project leaders are under a tight timeline to close the budget gap, with $150 million in federal funding on the line. TriMet anticipates the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will come through with the money this fall, but that’s contingent on pulling together sufficient local matching funds within the next few months.
So far, the project has received $55 million in funding from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF), though only $48 million of that is currently dedicated to the transit project itself. The remaining local funding is largely coming from TriMet’s general fund and Regional Flexible Funds allocated by Metro.
In a February statement, TriMet General Manager Sam Desue Jr. said he is committed to maximizing bus-priority lanes on 82nd Avenue “wherever feasible, while addressing community concerns, managing risks and positioning TriMet to secure federal funding” for the project. But, Desue said, the conversation “is not over until we determine a solution for the funding.”
The 82nd Avenue Transit Project has been in the works for several years as a major part of the regional plan to make significant changes to the corridor. The larger project began in earnest in 2022, when the city of Portland took ownership of 82nd Avenue from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT).
We really want to make sure transit on 82nd Avenue can be as fast and frequent and reliable as possible.
Indi Namkoong
Over the last three years, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has placed some much-needed crosswalks, including several new signalized crossings, along 82nd, which has long been one of the city’s most dangerous streets. PBOT also installed several new median islands, upgraded street lighting, and planted trees. Transit advocates are hopeful the upcoming transit project will be the cherry on top of 82nd’s transformation.
“We really want to make sure transit on 82nd Avenue can be as fast and frequent and reliable as possible,” Indi Namkoong, transportation justice coordinator at the nonprofit Verde, told the Mercury. “That’s what makes it feels safe, attractive, and effective for folks in our community, and that’s what really maximizes the potential of this project to contribute to making the whole corridor a better, happier, and healthier place to live and work.”
The plan TriMet approved in February would implement seven miles of BAT lanes in each direction of 82nd Avenue, encompassing the majority of the thoroughfare from Southeast Clatsop to Northeast Lombard Streets. One exemption would be at the intersection of SE 82nd and Powell Boulevard. ODOT still owns and maintains Powell, and the state agency has been wary of approving dedicated bus lanes along its roadways.
82nd Avenue transit advocates saw TriMet’s decision as a win. But there’s still the question of funding. So far, efforts to scrape together the last of the funds have been inconclusive or unsuccessful. But proponents of BAT lanes on 82nd aren’t giving up.
Acting Metro Council President Duncan Hwang, whose district includes 82nd Avenue south of I-84, has long been a strong supporter of improved transit service on the corridor. Hwang, who serves on the 82nd Avenue Transit Project’s Policy & Budget Committee, told the Mercury his team is working on a few different possibilities for filling the budget gap, some of which may be more immediately feasible than others. But with federal funding on the line, it’s important to act quickly, Hwang said.
In addition to the benefits Hwang expects the project will bring to 82nd, he pointed out that as the most ambitious transit plan currently in the works in the Portland area, the success of this project will set the stage for the next decade or more of local transportation planning.
“We really want to get this right to set a good example and learn things to bring onto the next project,” he said. “[The project] is moving forward. The question is time, and how bumpy it’s going to be.”
