In a rapidly expanding downtown construction corridor, Bellevue residents are starting to feel the squeeze. Excavation work on several major projects is causing traffic congestion now, and the city cautions more development is coming.

“This is just going to be part of the landscape for a couple of years or three,” said Tresa Berg, a spokeswoman for the city’s transportation department.

What the city wants is for motorists and pedestrians to be cautious and informed about the latest development impacts to traffic, Berg said, and to know how to safely navigate them.

“We know a bicyclist … got hit from the back of a truck and we just know that pedestrians should be careful since there’s so many trucks making the rounds,” Berg said of an incident that occurred several weeks ago.

There are currently right lane closures eastbound on Northeast 10th Street at Bellevue Way and 106th and 112th avenues northeast. Those are being used by dump trucks transporting excavated earth from development sites, such as Kemper Development’s Lincoln Square 2, which also has closed the right lane near on Bellevue Way for excavation work.

Construction crews are allowed to work 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday during these earth hauling trips, with some exceptions on Saturdays. Berg said the city is also allowing for hauling on Sundays to speed up the process.

“We’ve got a holiday moratorium,” she said. “We may allow some lane closures depending on the situation that they present us.”

Bellevue Way will close to northbound traffic between Northeast Fourth and Sixth streets 7 p.m. Friday to 9 p.m. Sunday for the erection of cranes at the Lincoln Square 2 site, with a possible one-lane reduction southbound.

The northbound lane of 106th Avenue Northeast will close 9 a.m. Saturday between Northeast Second and Fourth streets until 6 p.m. Sunday for a crane erection at the Soma II project, which is slated to start construction after Christmas.

Berg said the Development Services Department tries to balance projects to minimize impacts, but once a permit is issued the city can’t stop a developer from starting construction. Bellevue at Main and The Gateway project both started the permitting process at about the same time, and now are under construction adjacent to each other.

“We want the economy to continue to do well,” she said. “It is another particularly busy time at the moment.”

Developers are required to submit parking plans for employees, some opting to rent space from private lots. Berg said some residents have complained of people parking near construction sites to bring lunch to workers, but the city can’t enforce use of those spaces if they are within the posted time limits.

Developers taking up city right-of-way space are charged a lease fee, the largest being Kemper Development for its use of Bellevue Way and Northeast Fourth and Sixth streets right of way space at more than $40,000 per month.