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The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Bellevue Council Comes Up with Compromise Rail Alternative

Politics   January 20, 2010 at 5:12 pm Erica C. Barnett

At last night’s meeting of the Bellevue City Council, council members decided to ask the Sound Transit board to look at an alternative route for light rail on the Eastside that would both serve the South Bellevue park-and-ride and run along the Burlington Northern right-of-way through South Bellevue. (The council was looking only at the so-called “B” segment of the route, which does not include downtown Bellevue). They did not take a vote or choose a preferred alignment.

The new compromise alternative, according to council member (and Sound Transit board member) Claudia Balducci, would cross the Mercer Slough north of I-90 after passing next to the South Bellevue Park-and-Ride. A competing proposal, which council member Kevin Wallace has dubbed the “Vision Line,” would skip the park-and-ride and the slough and travel through south Bellevue and past downtown next to 405—a route that Sound Transit and others have said would depress ridership. Balducci opposes the Vision Line, as do two other members of the seven-member council.

Although Balducci agreed to move the new route forward, she says “there clearly isn’t enough information about this idea yet to give it a full assessment, let alone call it my ‘preferred alternative.’ I think it deserves full and serious consideration.”

She adds: “I remain very committed to having light rail serve the heavy concentration of transit users in West Bellevue, South Bellevue, Newcastle and elsewhere who are dependent on the South Bellevue Park and Ride and that is the piece of the new alternative that is of interest to me.”

In addition to choosing a preferred alignment through South Bellevue, the council still has to decide how light rail will get through downtown Bellevue—by traveling through the downtown core, which includes thousands of residences and jobs, or off to the east, or along next to the I-405 freeway to the east. A majority of the council now supports moving the line outside downtown, and Sound Transit staff are currently studying what impact a 405 route would have on rail costs and ridership.


  • Jane B

    I think this is such an important issue and I’m really glad that Publicola (and Erica) are tracking it. I live and work in Seattle – but someday my kids could very well end up living on the Eastside (or even me) and the alignment that’s picked now is the one we’ll be stuck with for the next 50+ years. I really hope Sound Transit picks the route that goes through downtown Bellevue. And I don’t understand how Kevin Wallace can vote on these issues since he clearly has a conflict of interest as a property owner with property along one of the possible routes.

  • Jane B

    I think this is such an important issue and I’m really glad that Publicola (and Erica) are tracking it. I live and work in Seattle – but someday my kids could very well end up living on the Eastside (or even me) and the alignment that’s picked now is the one we’ll be stuck with for the next 50+ years. I really hope Sound Transit picks the route that goes through downtown Bellevue. And I don’t understand how Kevin Wallace can vote on these issues since he clearly has a conflict of interest as a property owner with property along one of the possible routes.

  • oscar

    i cannot fathom how a route that doesn’t go through downtown is even considered. what the heck would be the point????

  • oscar

    i cannot fathom how a route that doesn’t go through downtown is even considered. what the heck would be the point????

  • http://www.thesustainablelife.net tha dizzle

    You can blame Kemper Freeman for starting most of this movement to route light rail away from downtown Bellevue. He doesn’t want the “riff-raff” (transit users) going to his properties. If you think I’m joking, look up his quotes on the matter.

  • GandolfST

    It never ceases to amaze me that people with little to no knowledge about a city can pontificate so profusely about issues of great import to that city. Bellevue will do what is best for Bellevue when it comes to light rail alignment. It is nonsense to believe that a surface alignment thru a downtown that is as small as Bellevue’s is of any benefit to anyone. This is not a street car. The Bellevue City Council will make the right decision that benefits the citizens, property owners and taxpayers of Bellevue. No stakeholder group in Bellevue preferred a surface alignment thru the downtown. The tunnel options were the preferred options by stakeholders and electeds alike. This remains the case, with new, less expensive options coming to the table. Light rail is DOA if it doesn’t move people quickly from Seattle to Redmond via Bellevue – surface alignments cannot do this.

    Bellevue knows where it is headed, where growth will be occurring and how to best serve all the city’s citizens, both North and South of I-90. Do yourself a favor – listen to the conversation on the Eastside of the Lake, do some research into real facts and then come forward with informed opinions. At this point all the collective Seattle-centric whining is getting very old and adds nothing to the discussion. Stop your personal attacks and try to find a clue somewhere!!

  • GandolfST

    It never ceases to amaze me that people with little to no knowledge about a city can pontificate so profusely about issues of great import to that city. Bellevue will do what is best for Bellevue when it comes to light rail alignment. It is nonsense to believe that a surface alignment thru a downtown that is as small as Bellevue’s is of any benefit to anyone. This is not a street car. The Bellevue City Council will make the right decision that benefits the citizens, property owners and taxpayers of Bellevue. No stakeholder group in Bellevue preferred a surface alignment thru the downtown. The tunnel options were the preferred options by stakeholders and electeds alike. This remains the case, with new, less expensive options coming to the table. Light rail is DOA if it doesn’t move people quickly from Seattle to Redmond via Bellevue – surface alignments cannot do this.

    Bellevue knows where it is headed, where growth will be occurring and how to best serve all the city’s citizens, both North and South of I-90. Do yourself a favor – listen to the conversation on the Eastside of the Lake, do some research into real facts and then come forward with informed opinions. At this point all the collective Seattle-centric whining is getting very old and adds nothing to the discussion. Stop your personal attacks and try to find a clue somewhere!!

  • http://www.thesustainablelife.net/ tha dizzle

    You can blame Kemper Freeman for starting most of this movement to route light rail away from downtown Bellevue. He doesn't want the “riff-raff” (transit users) going to his properties. If you think I'm joking, look up his quotes on the matter.