Orenco/Northwest 231st Avenue

Infobox Station
name=Orenco/Northwest 231st Avenue

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image_size=250
image_caption=Branch bench at Orenco Station with some of the etchings on the windscreen.
address=
coordinates=coord|45.530313|-122.915769|display=inline,title|type:railwaystation_region:US-OR
line=MAX Light Railrail color box|system=TMTC|line=Blue
other=
platform=Island platform
tracks=2
parking=Park & Ride
bicycle=Yes
baggage_check=
passengers=
pass_year=
pass_percent=
pass_system=
opened=September 12 1998
closed=
rebuilt=
ADA=yes
code=
owned=TriMet
zone=3
services=
mpassengers=

Orenco/Northwest 231st Avenue is a light rail station in the MAX Light Rail system in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. The station is the 14th stop westbound on the Westside MAX and is served by the Blue Line. Near the station is the award-winning Orenco Station mixed-use development, considered a positive model for Smart Growth development. Also near the station are some office complexes and the Intel Ronler Acres campus. Opened in 1998, the stop includes a park and ride lot and public artwork.

History

TriMet began construction of the Westside MAX project in 1994, with the Orenco Station stop opening on September 12 1998, with the rest of the line. [Mapes, Jeff. Gore walks tight line on Clinton. "The Oregonian", September 13 1998.] The station’s location helped to spur growth in the area with transit oriented developments for both commercial and residential usage.Suh, Elizabeth. Residents of old Orenco at odds with development. "The Oregonian", October 28 2007.] [cite journal|last=Wolinsky|first=Julian|date=September 1, 1998|title=Good transit is good business; research indicates public rail transit investment offers return on investment|journal=Railway Age|pages=93(1)|issn=0033-8826] This includes the 190 acre Orenco Station development that opened in September 1997, a year before the MAX station opened. [Housing Briefs: Orenco Station opens model homes in Hillsboro. "The Oregonian", September 21 1997.]

Details

Located south of Cornell Road on northwest 231st Avenue in the Orenco neighborhood, the station is within TriMet's fare zone 3. [http://www.trimet.org/max/stations/orencoss.htm Orenco/NW 231st Ave MAX Station.] TriMet. Retrieved on July 12 2008.] The station has a park and ride lot and bus connections to the number 47 line. Designed by OTAK Inc., the station features an island platform along the two tracks. [Colby, Richard N. Tracking art plans. "The Oregonian", August 3 1995.] The station also includes bike lockers and bike racks. One block north is the site of the Hillsboro Farmer's Market's seasonal Sunday marketplace. [Stein, Rosemarie. Five live Beaverton Farmers Market. "The Oregonian", May 12 2006.]

Public art

Artwork at the station follows the themes of a celebration of trees and the history Orenco, once the company town of the west coast's largest nursery, the Oregon Nursery Company.Gragg, Randy. A platform to reveal the art of the journey. "The Oregonian", September 9 1998.] Part of this comes from a grove of trees adjacent to the station that were purchased at the behest of the artists in charge of the artwork for the stop, Fernanda D'Agostino, Jerry Mayer, Valerie Otani and Bill Will. Individual works of art include the Rings of Memory Plaza which consists of concentric circles of granite inscribed with text by Kim Stafford. [http://trimet.org/publicart/bluelineart.htm Art on Westside MAX Blue Line.] TriMet. Retrieved on July 15 2008.] Another item is a gravel path with stone seat walls leading to an old oak grove titled the Witness Tree Rest which includes another line by Stafford inscribed on the granite threshold to the east end of the path. The Grafted Path which connects the station to NW 231st Avenue illustrates the grafting method that distinguished Oregon Nursery Company trees. [Colby, Richard N. Tracking art plans. "The Oregonian", August 3 1995.] East of the station is the Grove of Perspective, made up of rows of trees that create optical effects when viewed from the moving train.

On the platform is a piece titled Branch Benches, located in the passenger shelters, which are custom-made benches designed by Nancy Merritt and are bracketed by wisteria-covered arbors. Also in the shelter are images from the Oregon Nursery Company’s 1908 catalog etched on the windscreens. On top of the systems building sits a hand-forged tree designed by Stuart Keeler & Michael Machnic. This weather vane spreads its roots rises up through a nine-square grid that represents the city plan of Orenco.

References