The Bellevue City Council has now approved the first phase of design work for a revised B7 route for East Link through south Bellevue.

By advocating that Bellevue commit $670,000 to the phase 1 study, Councilmember Kevin Wallace clearly expects the other two phases to become necessary. It seems disingenuous for him to claim that “…a ridership and cost estimate and a map would be enough data to ease Sound Transit’s concerns of lower ridership for the B7 route…” It is more likely that the scope of study and the cost will be even more, and that Bellevue’s ability to pay its share of a downtown transit tunnel will therefore be further weakened.

Sound Transit may decide instead that the only way now to complete East Link on time and within budget would be to build an elevated “downtown” station adjacent to I-405, turning east from there to complete the route to Redmond. Then maybe Councilmember Wallace would realize his Disney-like “Vision Line” with a moving sidewalk to downtown retail and employment that he proposed earlier this year.

Peter S. Marshall, Bellevue