Hood Freeway and $154 million from I-505 on other projects in the Portland area started much earlier. In May 1973, Governor Tom McCall assembled a task force to determine alternative uses for the highway funds, who in turn recommended a network of "transitways". The task force was subsumed into CRAG in 1974, and CRAG incorporated the recommendations in an "Interim Transportation Plan" (ITP) adopted in June 1975. The ITP identified three corridors for potential funding using the highway funds: Banfield, Oregon City/Johnson Creek, and Sunset (Westside). In 1976, CRAG moved forward with a detailed study of the Banfield Corridor and put planning for the other corridors on hold. Among five alternatives developed by the Highway Division, including the removal or extension of an existing high-occupancy vehicle lane, a busway had been favored for the Banfield Corridor. Support for light rail on the corridor grew following the mode's inclusion as a sixth alternative in a 1977 EIS, though there was also opposition. Notable opposition came from the East County Concerned Citizens; 5,400 individuals signed a petition against any alternative involving light rail for costs and lack of presumed ridership. The group endorsed a plan to add an HOV lane and general lanes to Banfield instead. This opposition was notable, especially in comparison to the 340 individual comments received during a discussion period in 1977–1978. In September 1978, TriMet became the first jurisdiction to adopt a resolution supporting a combined light rail and highway expansion plan. Remaining local jurisdictions each announced their support by November, and the State Transportation Commission approved the project in 1979. The Banfield light rail project received federal approval for construction in September 1980. Plans for a 27-station, line, running from Southwest 11th Avenue in downtown Portland to just east of Cleveland Avenue in Gresham, were produced by Wilbur Smith Associates. The project estimated a budget of $225.5 million (equivalent to $ in dollars), of which $146.9 million went to light rail. Planners selected the Steel Bridge to carry the alignment over the Willamette River because it had been designed for the use of the city's former streetcars. In the east side, planners routed the line through a former Mount Hood Company interurban right-of-way, which occupied the median of East Burnside Street between 99th Avenue in Portland and Ruby Junction/197th Avenue, along which interurban service had ended in 1927. From Ruby Junction to Cleveland Avenue, planners assumed acquisition