Experts on more than 40 city and regional projects in Bellevue will offer presentations at City Hall on Thursday, May 15, for the city’s first-ever “Spring Forward Expo: Projects Affecting Your Future.” Residents can learn about dozens of major projects and express their opinions.
Set for 4 to 6:30 p.m. on the first-floor concourse of City Hall, 450 110th Ave. N.E., the Expo will be the largest open house Bellevue has ever had. Multiple proposals, including recommendations to transform the Bel-Red Corridor and possibly extend light rail through the city, are moving toward City Council action.
“Never before in our city’s history have so many important transportation and land-use issues been before us,” Mayor Grant Degginger said. “We want resident input.”
In addition to city staff from several departments, other organizations represented at the Expo will be Sound Transit, the state Department of Transportation and the Bellevue Downtown Association. Some of the topics to be featured at the event are:
–Bel-Red Subarea Plan and Land Use Code update: Attendees will have an opportunity to learn about and comment upon a draft of the subarea plan, a blueprint for changes in the 900-acre, historically industrial/commercial corridor.
–Light Rail Best Practices: A draft report on a set of recommended best practices tailored to implementing light rail in Bellevue will be available for examination and comment. Staff will be on hand to answer questions.
–Planning updates: The Pedestrian/Bicycle Plan Update, Bel-Red Overlake Transportation Study, Transportation Capital Investment Program, Transportation Facilities Program and information on several commuter programs that offer options to driving alone.
–Downtown, other projects: Great Streets, Mid-block Crossings, Pedestrian Corridor, Downtown Wayfinding, Ashwood Plaza, Meydenbauer Bay Park, Downtown Circulator and commercial development. Also, details about various efforts across the city, including street widening, new sidewalks and traffic signal improvements.
–Regional projects: Staff from the state DOT will be on hand to discuss construction of a highway overpass for Northeast 10th Street, adding lanes to Interstate 405, a “braided crossing that will make I-405 safer and easier to navigate through downtown and replacement of the State Route 520 bridge. Sound Transit will provide the latest information on its East Link proposal to extend light rail to Bellevue.
