Residents and others will have one last opportunity to ask questions about Bellevue’s study of its preferred light-rail route at an open house June 29. Arup North America Ltd, a consultant hired by the city, will make its third and final presentation on the study of the B7 route through south Bellevue.
The Wednesday event at City Hall, 450 110th Ave. N.E., includes a presentation summarizing the report from 5:30 to 6 p.m., a question-and-answer session from 6 to 6:45 p.m., and an open house ending at 7:30 p.m.
To conduct the Q&A effectively, the public is asked to submit questions in advance to Project Manager Maher Welaye at mwelaye@bellevuewa.gov or 425-452-4879.
Last October, the Bellevue City Council authorized a $670,000 contract with Arup to perform further analysis of Sound Transit’s East Link Project B7/C9T alternative for light rail from I-90 to downtown.
The goal was to determine if further development of Sound Transit’s B7 alternative would improve performance, reduce costs, and reduce impacts of the East Link route in South Bellevue.
The new B7-Revised alternative is a variation of the B7 alternative studied in Sound Transit’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for the East Link project.
The B7-Revised alternative includes a new transit station and park-and-ride near the Bellevue Way/Interstate 90 Interchange. The route then parallels I-90 to cross Mercer Slough, and runs along the west side of I-405 within a segment of the former BNSF railroad right-of-way.
It also includes a new transition from aerial to at-grade at the Red Lion Hotel site near Main Street and 112th Avenue Northeast, and enters a downtown tunnel portal near Northeast Second Street and 112th Avenue Northeast. The study analyzed the B7-Revised alignment for ridership, cost, right-of-way impacts, noise and visual impacts, and environmental effects.
