Bellevue City Council and Sound Transit Board meet to address East Link differences
In an effort to strengthen dialogue about East Link between the Bellevue City Council and the Sound Transit board, the two bodies met today at the Meydenbauer Center, just across the street from the Bellevue Transit Center.
After an hour of introductions from the eighteen members of the Sound Transit Board and the seven members of the Bellevue City Council, the meeting began with a report from CH2MHILL about the four different alignments currently being studied in Downtown Bellevue: C9T, C9A, C11A, and C14E.
The City Council and Sound Transit Board disagree on what would alignment would best serve downtown Bellevue. Currently, Sound Transit prefers C4A, an at grade couplet running from Main Street to 12th Ave on 108th and 110th Ave's.
The City Council has recently been infatuated with Kevin Wallace's C14E proposal which would place East Link next to I-405, resulting in lower ridership. Bellevue mayor Don Davidson, deputy mayor Conrad Lee, and Kevin Wallace indicated during the meeting they are more concerned about preserving the status quo than making Bellevue more transit-friendly and accessible to those without a car.
There are now only two serious proposals left on the table (in addition to C14E, the "Vision Line", or as we like to call it, the Highway Alignment.
These proposals are: C9T (which runs underground from Main Street and becomes elevated on NE 6th next to the Meydenbauer Center, just east of the transit center) and C11A (which runs at grade from Main Street to NE 6th on 108th Ave and has a stop at the current transit center before becoming elevated next to the Meydenbauer Center.) Both have a ridership estimate of eight thousand.
C11A is the most promising alingment for walkability.
76% of downtown jobs and 53% of downtown residential housing is less than a five minute walk from the stations in C11A.
Much of downtown Bellevue, including Kemper Freeman Jr.'s Bellevue Collection, would be within a five or ten minute walking radius of a C11A station.
C9T is close to C11A, but its walkshed is smaller. Only 44% of jobs and 21% of residents are within a five minute radius (97% of jobs and 66% of residents would be within a ten minute walking radius).
The "Lack of Vision" Line (C14E) is much worse. Only 27% of jobs and 7% of residences are within a five minute walk. Over 20% of Downtown Bellevue's jobs are over a ten minute walk from the stations and less than half of the residents are within a ten minute walk. Those projections include the moving walkway canopy.
The best part of today's joint meeting was the presentation. I enjoyed looking at the design pictures for the different alignments. It's fun to envision trains swiftly serving downtown. Readers, take a look through the eighty four page report (mostly pictures) to see what East Link will probably look like (PDF).
In the end, all the City Council and Sound Transit Board members agreed that the conversation was very important and they look forward to meeting again in April. Once April comes around, the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) stage will be over and it will be time to start making decisions about East Link.
We urge the Bellevue City Council to put NIMBYist fears about light rail aside and join the Sound Transit Board in supporting an alignment for East Link that places trains within walking distance of the places that riders want to go.
After an hour of introductions from the eighteen members of the Sound Transit Board and the seven members of the Bellevue City Council, the meeting began with a report from CH2MHILL about the four different alignments currently being studied in Downtown Bellevue: C9T, C9A, C11A, and C14E.
The City Council and Sound Transit Board disagree on what would alignment would best serve downtown Bellevue. Currently, Sound Transit prefers C4A, an at grade couplet running from Main Street to 12th Ave on 108th and 110th Ave's.
The City Council has recently been infatuated with Kevin Wallace's C14E proposal which would place East Link next to I-405, resulting in lower ridership. Bellevue mayor Don Davidson, deputy mayor Conrad Lee, and Kevin Wallace indicated during the meeting they are more concerned about preserving the status quo than making Bellevue more transit-friendly and accessible to those without a car.
There are now only two serious proposals left on the table (in addition to C14E, the "Vision Line", or as we like to call it, the Highway Alignment.
These proposals are: C9T (which runs underground from Main Street and becomes elevated on NE 6th next to the Meydenbauer Center, just east of the transit center) and C11A (which runs at grade from Main Street to NE 6th on 108th Ave and has a stop at the current transit center before becoming elevated next to the Meydenbauer Center.) Both have a ridership estimate of eight thousand.
C11A is the most promising alingment for walkability.
76% of downtown jobs and 53% of downtown residential housing is less than a five minute walk from the stations in C11A.
Much of downtown Bellevue, including Kemper Freeman Jr.'s Bellevue Collection, would be within a five or ten minute walking radius of a C11A station.
C9T is close to C11A, but its walkshed is smaller. Only 44% of jobs and 21% of residents are within a five minute radius (97% of jobs and 66% of residents would be within a ten minute walking radius).
The "Lack of Vision" Line (C14E) is much worse. Only 27% of jobs and 7% of residences are within a five minute walk. Over 20% of Downtown Bellevue's jobs are over a ten minute walk from the stations and less than half of the residents are within a ten minute walk. Those projections include the moving walkway canopy.
The best part of today's joint meeting was the presentation. I enjoyed looking at the design pictures for the different alignments. It's fun to envision trains swiftly serving downtown. Readers, take a look through the eighty four page report (mostly pictures) to see what East Link will probably look like (PDF).
In the end, all the City Council and Sound Transit Board members agreed that the conversation was very important and they look forward to meeting again in April. Once April comes around, the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) stage will be over and it will be time to start making decisions about East Link.
We urge the Bellevue City Council to put NIMBYist fears about light rail aside and join the Sound Transit Board in supporting an alignment for East Link that places trains within walking distance of the places that riders want to go.
# Posted by Daniel : 6:19 PM
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