Construction of the 14-mile, 10-station East Link light rail project is underway in downtown Bellevue and work is set to begin in south Bellevue as early as January 2017. Sound Transit will build light rail along Bellevue Way Southeast and 112th Avenue Southeast between I-90 and East Main Street.

East Link construction will kick-off in south Bellevue and in Redmond as early as spring 2017. Sound Transit will use the South Bellevue and Overlake Transit Center park-and-ride sites to stage equipment and materials to build the light rail track, stations and parking garages.

The South Bellevue Station will be located at the current South Bellevue Park-and-Ride site. The station will include bus and paratransit facilities, public art, space for passenger drop-off and approximately 1,500 parking stalls, nearly tripling today’s parking capacity. For a detailed look at the light rail route and station designs, visit Sound Transit’s East Link page.

One of the first construction activities in the area will be closing the South Bellevue Park-and-Ride. This site will serve as the construction hub for staging equipment and building the light rail station, track and new parking garage. As early as January 2017, the park-and-ride will close for up to five years as the site becomes an active construction zone.

Sound Transit is also opening new park-and-rides to serve transit riders during East Link construction. These new park-and-rides will open in fall 2016 and will be announced in a future newsletter.

Learn more about the new park-and-ride locations at Sound Transit’s Park-and-Ride and Travel Options Page.

Bus routes at these lots serve many of the same destinations as routes currently serving the South Bellevue Park-and-Ride.

The South Bellevue Park-and-Ride will be closed for approximately five years during construction. ST Express buses 550, 555 and 556 and Metro buses 241 and 249 will continue to serve Bellevue Way Southeast next to the closed park-and-ride during construction. The future South Bellevue Station will include bus and paratransit transfer facilities and a 1,500-stall parking garage.

The Overlake Transit Center Park-and-Ride will be closed for approximately six years during construction. Transit will continue to serve the Overlake Transit Center while the park-and-ride is closed. The future Redmond Technology Center Station will include bus, paratransit and Microsoft Connector service transfer facilities, a bicycle and pedestrian bridge across SR 520 and a 320-stall parking garage.

Sound Transit and the contractor will explore opportunities to open the park-and-rides sooner if possible.