A9. Two Way via Spring Garden


Map drawn with OpenOffice.org Draw by John Miller.
Not a TriMet map! Click to enlarge.

Two Way Route, Via Spring Garden Road

This is a complicated route based on the idead that if we could turn the bus around in Hillsdale, we could go back they we way came, instead of looping around "Wilson Hill" to get back to Freddies.

The Problems and Benefits of a Two-Way Route

By "Two-Way route", we mean that the bus goes through Hillsdale from west-to-east on Capitol Hwy, and then turns around to go back through, east-to-west.

The two problems are:
A) turning the bus around in Hillsdale, and
B) getting the bus back onto Bertha from Capitol to head back to Burlingame. These problems are address in more detail in the next three sections.

The Hillsdale Turnaround

Consider a clockwise turnaround using Sunset, Dewitt, and Cheltenham.
See orange line in air photo below. (Ignore bright green line!)
Benefit: Can stop at the established stop (#955) across from Wilson High School.
Potential problem: The right turn back onto Capitol from Cheltenham is without a traffic light, and rush hour traffic could be a problem.

Getting Back onto Bertha from Hillsdale

The bus could have some difficulties returning to Bertha via Bertha Court. During the December test, the turn was rated as "do-able" by the Driver and Field Operations. But -- the bus driver would have to get out onto Bertha by going across the northbound lane while looking back at a right oblique angle for traffic having just come off of Beaverton Hillsdale Highway onto Bertha. So, even though it is do-able (certainly, cars do it all the time), we don't feel it is worth the risk. Therefore, we're sticking with the idea of continuing on Capitol Highway up to Vermont as a way back to Bertha.

Happily, this route passes Bertha (Red Electric) Station, and, once up on the the Vermont plateau, riders could disembark for a short walk to MJCC and other places not reachable without a transfer to #44/#45. The bus would also pass the huge Shadow Hills apartment complex on Vermont. This "detour" extends the range of #39 a bit, in exchange for quite a bit of territory.

The Capitol-Vermont Left Turn

To get back to Bertha from Capitol, #39 turns sharp left onto Vermont. (See photo below.) This can be done by a 30' bus. Turning left at that corner could be considered dangerous, but for something as large as a BUS, drivers should notice it from a distance. Traffic may back up behind the bus while waiting for it to turn. Is there such a thing as a "Yield to Bus" sign?

Snow Route for this Alternative?

For either Alt 9 or Alt 10, the downhill on Vermont would be hazardous in winter, so we'd need a snow route for #39, perhaps the Bertha Court Ramp.
Back to the Line 39 Home Page