Members of the Meydenbauer Bay Neighbors Association were not comforted to hear future plans for traffic management in Old Bellevue on Oct. 16, further scoffing at projections that the downtown area won’t be in gridlock by 2030.
It was the annual meeting of the MBNA, and city officials came out to update residents on progress with Phase I of the Meydenbauer Bay Park project, as well as traffic, safety and environmental concerns in the area.
Traffic
Measures to improve congestion and parking on Main Street and the greater downtown area will depend on what’s approved in the city’s 2015-16 budget, said Mark Poch, city traffic engineering manager.
A lack of left-turn lanes on Main in Old Bellevue is part of the congestion problem, Poch said, but older traffic lights are another. The budget proposes to hook those lights to its coordinated adaptive traffic system, SCATS. Detectors would be placed in lanes of travel that can measure traffic flow and revise its traffic light signal schedule in real time.
Weather permitting, Poch said 20 additional parking spaces will be added on 100th Avenue Northeast, between Main and Northeast Fourth Street by the end of the month. Recent requests for parking on 101st Avenue Northeast may be possible on the east side, but are not likely to be installed any time soon.
“This is really an idea that is going to just sit, for now,” he said.
It will be up to the Bellevue City Council to approve a comprehensive parking study next year, which has been proposed by the Downtown Livability Initiative Community Advisory Group. There are also ongoing discussions for a more targeted study of parking in Old Bellevue, Poch said.
Poch told residents an alternative route will be found once 100th Avenue Southeast is closed south of Main Street as part of plans for the waterfront park, adding only one vehicle uses on that stretch of road per minute on average.
“I think it is a plan that can work,” Poch said, eliciting groans from the audience. “This benefits, depending on who the audience is.”
A downtown transportation plan is nearing completion, estimating today’s 8,000 residents there will grow to 20,000 by 2030.
“The models are showing we will not be in gridlock by 2030,” Poch said, adding more congestion will exist, but should be manageable.
Public safety
With Downtown Park slated for major improvements and gaining popularity as a gathering spot in Bellevue, residents were curious to know whether it will also be attracting the city’s growing homeless population.
“You are probably going to see more transients in the park,” said Police Capt. Jim Hershey.
One resident said they wanted to see a stronger police presence in the park, but Hershey said officers are there and routinely drive by the area every day. The parks department also provides its own park patrols.
The department is working to fill staffing positions vacated through retirements. Hershey said 15 officers have been hired, but are waiting for spots to open to complete required academy training, which may take until March.
Meydenbauer Bay Park
Phase I for the waterfront park is now in the design process, which will be directed by the features and amenities outlined in the Meydenbauer Bay Park Master Plan.
Residents asked about the source of water that will be used to create a stream at the westside of the park that will flow into Lake Washington through a delta.
Robin Cole, Phase I project manager, said wetland specialists and geotechnical and environmental engineers are working to identify the source of the underground water flow that already exists there, which is believed to have been covered over more than 80 years ago to construct a road.
That same area will include restoration of a riparian zone through native vegetation plantings.
“I believe English ivy is on the list to be removed,” said Cole, responding to a resident’s complaint over the invasive species being introduced there two decades ago.
The historic Whaling Building also will be preserved and upgraded to meet ADA requirements, but Cole said there are still no plans for what public purpose it will serve in the future. She added many ideas have been offered, such as opening the building for the public to store canoes and kayaks or conducting education programs there.
The public can expect to see preliminary designs with options and alternatives by the first week of December before permits are submitted early next year. Those permits are expected to be issued by mid-2016.
