The Portland Aerial Tram

The Portland Aerial Tram

The Critical Link to the Development of South Waterfront

The Portland Aerial Tram is a 3,300 linear foot aerial tram rising 500 feet over Interstate 5, the Lair Hill neighborhood, and Terwilliger Parkway and connecting OHSU and the Marquam Hill to the South Waterfront District. Construction of the Tram will be completed in fall 2006 and will serve as a catalyst for the South Waterfront redevelopment and the continued emergence of OHSU as a top-tier medical research institution. Designed by Angélil/Graham/Pfenninger/Scholland Doppelmayr-CTEC, the tram will provide approximately a 3 minute ride between the two areas, with views of Mt. Hood and Downtown Portland.

Planners project that in the first five years, the aerial tram will support about 1,500 round trips a day for activities in the OHSU Center for Health & Healing, the university's first building in the South Waterfront. Because the aerial tram is part of the public transportation system and open to the public, planners expect ridership to exceed this estimate. Twenty years from now when the South Waterfront is more mature in its development, about 5,500 OHSU-related round trips are expected each day.

The Portland Aerial Tram was envisioned years before it became Portland’s first international design competition, a milestone that in the public’s eyes marked the beginning of this exciting project. In 1999, Oregon Health & Science University committed to include a new campus as part of the North Macadam Urban Renewal Plan. Three years later, the City empowered Portland Aerial Transportation Inc. to facilitate the design and construction of an aerial tram that would connect OHSU’s two campuses and re-connect Marquam Hill with the Willamette River. The tram has now proved to be the catalyst for $2 billion in private investment in the South Waterfront.

From December 2002 to March 2003, firms from around the world competed for the privilege of designing the Portland Aerial Tram. After a series of public lectures and design discussions, the competition came to a close on March 26, 2003, when a six-member jury unanimously selected Angélil/Graham/Pfenninger/Scholl Architecture to design the tram.

Since that time, PATI, OHSU, the City Council and the Portland Office of Transportation (PDOT) have worked with the architect and engineers to create a functional yet distinguished transportation icon. The tram has evolved in response to various engineering and budgetary challenges, but its elegance and strict adherence to avoid tapping into the City’s General Fund have been paramount to each revision. PDOT is currently overseeing construction of the Portland Aerial Tram, as well as the various infrastructure and neighborhood improvements included in the overall project.

Construction work

Upper Station