A coalition of Eastside business leaders sent a letter to the Bellevue City Council Wednesday, urging the body to get over the differences with Sound Transit and make sure East Link gets done for the good of the region.
The letter was signed by representatives from Microsoft, Boeing, T-Mobile, Bellevue College and Group Health, among others.
“We are concerned that the current disagreements between the city of Bellevue and Sound Transit will further delay the region gaining the benefits of this vital project and inevitably increase costs at a time when public dollars are extremely tight and should be used as efficiently as possible,” the letter said.
The prominent employers go on to declare the incoming light-rail project as “equally critical” as the State Route 520 bridge replacement program.
Based on Sound Transit’s planning, and the recently released interim study from Bellevue, the two organizations have enough information to sit down across the table and come up with a solution, the letter said.
Instead of fighting back and forth about alignments, the group said, the conversation needs to be refocused toward mitigation of potential impacts, and finding ways to fund a downtown tunnel, something all parties have agreed is a necessary piece of the puzzle.
As the businesses expand, and population grows, an improved transit system will become more crucial to the economy of the Eastside, and the Puget Sound region as a whole.
“A sizable number of our employees and tenants rely on regional transit to get to and from work every day,” the letter said. “East Link is a necessary step in providing more efficient transportation of employees and the general public around the region. Additionally, an effective light-rail
system will increase the capacity of our ground transportation network, facilitating the movement of goods and people throughout the area. Further delays are detrimental to this vision.”
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