Bellevue City Council East Link Preferred Alignment

1
Bellevue City Council East Link Preferred
Alignment

• Presentation to Sound Transit Board of Directors
• April 9, 2009

2
Bellevue Supports East Link

• Bellevue voters 56 in favor of ST 2/Prop. 1
  (Nov. 2008)
• Four years of active preparation for Light Rail
• Council endorsed light rail in Summer of 2006
• Undertook Light Rail Best Practices Effort though
  2008 (400,000 invested)
• Extensive Council engagement in weighing options
  and identifying preferred alternative in last two
  years
• Broad public outreach hearings and community
  meetings Council meetings, business and
  neighborhood outreach, other mechanisms--over 25
  public meetings and hundreds of comments received

3
Light Rail Best Practices Effort

• Comprehensive Light Rail Site Visits Outreach
  (2007-08)
• Evaluated national examples -- Portland, San
  Jose, San Diego Dallas (route and station area
  design issues)
• Close Sound Transit collaboration
• Key Conclusions
• Do it right the first timeconsider long-term
  needs transportation needs of region
• Advance long-term community vision for each
  station area with attention to unique land use
  characteristics
• Improve system connectivity and performance
• Optimize neighborhood access and ensure
  compatible design techniques while protecting
  neighborhoods, parks, and environment
• Optimize for ridership
• Minimize construction impacts and risk
• Outcome Enacted Comprehensive Plan Light Rail
  Land Use Polices
• Reinforced land use policies to support and
  implement light rail

4
Bellevue Councils Recommended Alignment

• B3 Modified Bellevue Way-112th side running
• C2T 106th Ave NE Tunnel
• D2A NE 16th At-Grade Alternative
• Best Meets Citys Comprehensive Plan
• Neighborhood and environmental protection
• Recognize downtown mobility constraints
• Bel-Red area transit oriented redevelopment
• Balances Regional Performance with Land Use
  Objectives
• Maximize ridership, minimize travel times and
  accommodate future extensions
• Promote smart growth

5
South Bellevue I-90 to SE 8th Street (Seg. B)
Maximizes regional access performance Provides
neighborhood access and protection Addresses
environmental sensitivity Maximizes street
throughput during and after construction
Downtown Bellevue
Surrey Downs
I-405
Mercer Slough
Enatai Neighborhood
South Bellevue Park Ride
BellevueWay
I-90
View looking north towards Downtown Bellevue
6

• South Bellevue Preference B3 Modified
• Dramatically reduces construction impacts
  minimal street reconstruction
• Eliminates traffic conflicts associated with
  median running
• Primarily at-grade reduces neighborhood
  impacts
• Maintains regional access
• Strong potential for significant cost savings
• Same high performance as B3, better street
  operations
• South Bellevue Park and Ride provides local and
  regional access
• Some traffic mitigation required

7
B3 SE 8th St. to Main St.

• Alternate B3 Alignment
• Avoids wetlands
• Avoids business impacts (Bellevue Club, others)

Red Lion
Hilton
Bellevue Club
B3, Per DEIS
8
Downtown Bellevue 2007
5,500 Residents 38,000 employees 600 superblocks
9
Current Downtown Development
Green Under Construction Blue Under Review

• 2004 to 2009
• 2.3 million sq ft new leasable office
• 900,000 sq ft new leasable retail
• 3,700 new housing units

10
Projected Downtown Growth
2030 19,000 Residents 79,000 employees
11

• Downtown Preference 106th Ave NE Tunnel (C2T)
• Compatible with adopted plans
• High ridership, segment and system
• Least residential business displacements
• Minimizes negative impacts to community assets
  such as parks
• Station option East Main or 106th/Main

12

• C2T Hospital Station
• Best serves rapidly growing Hospital District
• Preferred by hospitals and medical providers
• Enables transit oriented redevelopment east of
  I-405
• Residential and commercial

13

• Promising Alternate Alignment 108th Ave NE
  Tunnel (C3T)
• High ridership, segment and system
• Deep bore tunnel could reduce street impacts
  during construction
• Does require cut and cover segments and cut and
  cover station
• Negative park impacts
• High business and residential displacements

14

• C3T Ashwood/Hospital Station
• Less desirable location compromises downtown
  access and/or Hospital District access
• Construction over the freeway adds complexity and
  costs
• No benefit to Wilburton area redevelopment east
  of I-405

15
At-Grade (C4A) Alternative Wont Work

• Traffic Operations
• Superblocks limited right of way (less than ½
  of typical)
• Requires inefficient one way street couplet
• Susceptible to blocking incidents
• Compromises access to current and future private
  development
• Slow, lower ridership
• Negatively effects entire system - lowest use
• Compromises Regional Transit System
• Future extensions (Issaquah, Kirkland, Renton)
• Higher frequencies, train-vehicle conflicts

Downtown traffic snapshot
16
Downtown Bellevue Has Little Right of Way
Downtown Seattle 250-foot blocks (38
right-of-way)
Downtown Bellevue 600-foot superblocks (21
right-of-way)
17
Elevated Alternatives (C7E C8E) are
Incompatible with Downtown Bellevue

• Poor access
• Lower ridership
• Severe visual impact to emerging urban center
• Residences
• Shadow effect
• High business displacements
• Traffic impacts

18
The Bel-Red Corridor (segment D)
Overlake
Bel-Red Corridor
Downtown Bellevue
19
Bel-Red A Vision for 2030
New NE 16th Blvd
122nd Station Node
130th Station Node
To Downtown Bellevue
To Overlake
West Tributary Enhancement
Goff Creek Enhancement
20
Bel-Red Preference Alternative D2A
21
Bellevue is Committed to a Successful Deployment
of Light Rail

• The best alignment is crucial to Bellevues
  future
• We want to continue our successful partnership
  with with Sound Transit
• Identify Project Savings
• Mitigate Project Impacts
• Advance Tunnel Design
• Finance Tunnel Construction