Orenco is a light rail station in

Hillsboro, Oregon Hillsboro ( ) is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Situated in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city hosts many high-technology companies, ...

, United States, served by

TriMet TriMet, formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Created in 1969 ...

as part of the

MAX Light Rail The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five color-designated lines that altogether connect the six sections ...

system. It is the seventh station eastbound on the Blue Line, situated between the and stations. The two-track,

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

station serves the Orenco Station neighborhood, which is considered a model for

smart growth Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl. It also advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood sch ...

and

transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between ...

. It features a 125-space

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

, a

bike and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system (rapi ...

, and connections to TriMet

bus route A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for ...

47–Baseline/Evergreen and Ride Connection's North Hillsboro Link. An

Oregon Electric Railway The Oregon Electric Railway (OE) was an interurban railroad line in the U.S. state of Oregon that linked Portland to Eugene. Service from Portland to Salem began in January 1908. The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway purchased the system in ...

(OE) depot of the same name served the area in the early 20th century. The TriMet station was built as part of the

Westside MAX West Side or Westside may refer to: Places Canada * West Side, a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario * West Side, a neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia United Kingdom * West Side, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Westside, Birmingham E ...

project, which extended MAX from

downtown Portland Downtown Portland is the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found. ...

to downtown Hillsboro in 1998. In 2017, TriMet simplified the station's name from "Orenco/Northwest 231st Avenue" after the city renamed Northwest 231st Avenue to Northeast Century Boulevard.

History

Historic Orenco was a community established in 1906 by the

Oregon Nursery Company The Oregon Nursery Company (also known as Orenco) was a nursery company founded and originally operated in Salem, Oregon, United States. The company later expanded to a site in Washington County, Oregon west of Portland. The entire operation w ...

, which is the origin of the

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsnursery had purchased of land and moved its operations to the area from

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

. In 1908, the company persuaded OE to include Orenco in its planned

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

–

Forest Grove A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industri ...

; OE subsequently laid tracks through the town instead of a more southerly route and built a

train depot A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

just east of where the present-day light rail station would be located. By the time Orenco incorporated in 1913, OE's Orenco depot had averaged 1,000 passengers per month. The outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914 disrupted the nursery's plans to expand into

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and resulted in years of financial hardship. The company eventually filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

and closed in 1927. In 1932, OE's Forest Grove line ceased operating due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and competition from

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

s. With the loss of the town's largest employer, residents moved elsewhere. The remaining residents dissolved the local government in 1938. The former town and its vicinity remained rural for decades after and even became a site for

illegal dumping Illegal dumping, also called fly dumping or fly tipping ( UK), is the dumping of waste illegally instead of using an authorized method such as curbside collection or using an authorized rubbish dump. It is the illegal deposit of any waste onto l ...

. In the 1950s, much of the area was divided and sold to development ventures, many of which failed. In 1983, the Hillsboro city government initiated annexation plans and consolidated land ownership with the creation of an

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

district. Land was later sold to

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

and Pacific Realty Associates, the latter of which would eventually develop the

transit-oriented In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between ...

mixed-use Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

community of Orenco Station. Planning for an extension of the Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) west from Portland to Hillsboro emerged in 1979 with initial plans terminating the route at 185th Avenue, east of and thus excluding the old Orenco townsite. Staunch lobbying from Hillsboro Mayor

Shirley Huffman Shirley Todd Huffman (August 30, 1928 – July 1, 2018) was an American politician and legal secretary in the U.S. state of Oregon. Raised in Dayton, Oregon, she settled in Hillsboro, Oregon, where she served on the city council before serving ...

and others helped to extend the line farther west through Orenco to downtown Hillsboro in July 1993. The cost of the Hillsboro extension, estimated at $224 million, required approval for an additional $75 million of federal funding, granted in 1994.

, the regional transit agency, began construction of the

in August 1993. Track work between 12th Avenue and 185th Avenue in Hillsboro, the segment that included Orenco, commenced in April 1996. The Westside MAX had been scheduled to open from Portland to 185th Avenue in 1997, and to Hillsboro in 1998, but delays during the construction of the

Robertson Tunnel The Robertson Tunnel is a twin-bore light rail tunnel through the Tualatin Mountains west of Portland, Oregon, United States, used by the MAX Blue and Red Lines. The tunnel is long'' Light Rail and Modern Tramway'', November 1993, p. 302. U ...

pushed most of its opening back by one year. The station opened as Orenco/Northwest 231st Avenue on September 12, 1998. In September 2017, the station was renamed from "Orenco/Northwest 231st Avenue" to simply "Orenco", in connection with street-name changes approved by the Hillsboro City Council in October 2016. The changes included the renaming of Northwest 231st Avenue within Hillsboro to Northeast Century Boulevard.

Impact on transit-oriented development

Orenco Station Plaza and Rowlock Apartments (2016)

During the light rail station's early planning stages, the City of Hillsboro and TriMet imposed high-density development restrictions, despite the opposition of existing residents. In April 1994, Hillsboro approved an interim

ordinance Ordinance may refer to: Law * Ordinance (Belgium), a law adopted by the Brussels Parliament or the Common Community Commission * Ordinance (India), a temporary law promulgated by the President of India on recommendation of the Union Cabinet * ...

that detailed planning standards for the area within of the station and set a population density goal of 45 residents per . The Orenco Neighborhood Association challenged the ordinance in the

Oregon Court of Appeals The Oregon Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court in the US state of Oregon. Part of the Oregon Judicial Department, it has thirteen judges and is located in Salem. Except for death penalty cases, which are reserved to the O ...

; the court ruled in favor of the city in July 1995. Two months later, a compromise was reached to allow granny-flat homes to be included in the zoning plans, lowering the initial density target to 34.5 residents per acre. Pacific Reality Associates, which acquired of land near the station, developed much of the Orenco Station neighborhood. In the late 1990s, the developer built 450 homes on lots averaging , about twenty percent smaller than a typical lot at the time, with floor plans that averaged ; 1,400 apartments; retail stores; and offices. The area immediately north of the station, among the last parcels of land to be filled, was approved for development in 2013. The $120 million Platform District, developed by Holland Partners Group, features three six-story, mixed-use buildings that include more than 1,000 housing units and of retail space. The first of the three buildings, called "The Hub", was completed in February 2015. At the district's center is Plaza Park, a urban plaza that consists of a

water feature In landscape architecture and garden design, a water feature is one or more items from a range of fountains, jeux d'eau, pools, ponds, rills, artificial waterfalls, and streams. Before the 18th century they were usually powered by gravity, tho ...

, a colorful

pergola A pergola is most commonly an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. The ...

, and a raised deck built around two

white oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera '' ...

trees. The plaza is designed to host outdoor public events.

Station details

Located south of Northeast Cornell Road on Northeast Orenco Station Loop and west of Northeast Century Boulevard, the station serves the Orenco Station neighborhood. It was within TriMet's fare zone 3 until the agency discontinued all use of fare zones in 2012. Designed by OTAK Inc., it features an

between the two tracks that consists of a

shelter Shelter is a small building giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger. Shelter may also refer to: Places * Port Shelter, Hong Kong * Shelter Bay (disambiguation), various locations * Shelter Cove (disambiguation), various locatio ...

ticket vending machine A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instanc ...

s, and a passenger information display. The station includes a

24-hour The modern 24-hour clock, popularly referred to in the United States as military time, is the convention of timekeeping in which the day runs from midnight to midnight and is divided into 24 hours. This is indicated by the hours (and minutes) pas ...

with 125 spaces, as well as a nearby 50-space bike-and-ride facility operated by BikeLink. Between the station and Northeast Cherry Drive is Plaza Park, a public plaza bounded by mid-rise, mixed-use buildings that collectively make up the Platform District.

Public art

Artwork at the station follows two themes: the history of Orenco and a celebration of trees. The artwork incorporates a grove of trees adjacent to the station that was preserved at the behest of the artists in charge of the artwork for the stop. Individual works of art include ''Rings of Memory Plaza'', which consists of concentric circles of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

inscribed with text by Oregon Poet Laureate

Kim Stafford Kim Robert Stafford (born October 15, 1949) is an American poet and essayist who lives in Portland, Oregon. Early life and education Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Stafford is the son of poet William Stafford. He earned a Bachelor of Arts ...

. Another piece is a gravel path with stone seat walls leading to an old oak grove entitled ''Witness Tree Rest'', which includes another line by Stafford inscribed on the granite threshold at the east end of the path. ''Grafted Path'', a pathway that connects the station to Northeast Century Boulevard, illustrates the

grafting Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The succ ...

method that distinguished Oregon Nursery Company trees. East of the station is ''Grove of Perspective'', rows of trees that create optical effects when viewed from the moving train. On the platform is a piece entitled ''Branch Benches'', located in the passenger shelters, which are custom-made benches designed by Nancy Merritt and bracketed by

wisteria ''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), that includes ten species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and north o ...

-covered arbors. On top of the systems building sits a hand-forged sculpture of a tree, designed by Stuart Keeler and Michael Machnic. This

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

spreads its roots and rises up through a nine-square grid that represents the city plan of Orenco.

Services

Intel light rail shuttle bus approaching Orenco MAX station in 2013 - Hillsboro, Oregon

Orenco station is situated between the and stations as the seventh station eastbound on the

MAX Blue Line The MAX Blue Line is a light rail service in Portland, Oregon, United States, operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. It travels east–west for approximately —the longest in the network—between Hillsboro, Beaverton, Po ...

, which runs from the station westbound to downtown Hillsboro and eastbound through Beaverton and Portland to Gresham. Trains serve the station for approximately 22 hours per day on weekdays, 21½ hours on Saturdays, and 19½ hours on Sundays. The

headway Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system measured in space or time. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise defi ...

between trains measures from as little as five minutes during weekday

rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: on ...

to 30 minutes in the early mornings and late evenings; the majority of trains run every 15 minutes. From Orenco station, trains take thirteen minutes to reach

Hatfield Government Center station Hatfield Government Center is a light rail station on the in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon, United States, owned and operated by TriMet. The station is the western terminus of the MAX Blue Line. Opened in 1998, it is located in the same block as the ...

in Hillsboro, 39 minutes to reach the Pioneer Square stations in

, and 92 minutes to reach

Cleveland Avenue station Cleveland Avenue station is a MAX light rail station in Gresham, Oregon. The light rail station is the 26th and final stop eastbound on the current Eastside MAX line. It is the eastern terminus of the Blue Line. This station has a large park-and ...

in Gresham. It recorded 1,297 average weekday boardings in fall 2018. The station connects to TriMet

47–Main/Evergreen, which runs on weekdays to Hillsboro Central Transit Center and the

Rock Creek Rock Creek or Rockcreek may refer to: Streams United States * Rock Creek (California) * Rock Creek (Fountain Creek tributary), Colorado * Rock Creek (Idaho) * Rock Creek (Kankakee River tributary), Illinois * Rock Creek (Wapsipinicon River tribut ...

campus of

Portland Community College Portland Community College (PCC) is a public community college in Portland, Oregon. It is the largest post-secondary institution in the state and serves residents in the five-county area of Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill, Clackamas, and Colu ...

. Additionally, Ride Connection's North Hillsboro Link offers a free weekday bus service between the station and employment areas in North Hillsboro, while Intel operates a

shuttle bus A shuttle bus is a bus that travels a shorter route in comparison to most bus routes. Typically, shuttle buses travel in both directions between two points. Shuttle buses are designed to transport large groups of people who are all travellin ...

to transport employees to and from its nearby Ronler Acres campus.

Former bus service

The station was originally served by a TriMet bus route designated 42s–Orenco ("s" for shuttle), in addition to route 47, introduced with the station's opening in 1998. Route 42s was eliminated as a separate route in December 2001, when it was combined with route 47 but with a section along Orenco Station Parkway and Butler Road discontinued without replacement.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orenco Northwest 231st Avenue 1998 establishments in Oregon Bus stations in Oregon MAX Blue Line MAX Light Rail stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1998 Railway stations in Washington County, Oregon Transportation in Hillsboro, Oregon