Sound Transit has released the results of an unscientific survey taken during last week’s rancorous public hearing at Bellevue City Hall. (The purpose of the hearing was to gauge residents’ preference among potential light-rail alignments along 112th Ave. SE; however, most of those who showed up seemed to prefer an alignment Sound Transit has rejected along I-405 far to the east of downtown Bellevue.)
In general, residents who voted tended to prefer an alignment running down the west side of 112th (as opposed to in the center of the street) and in a trench toward a tunnel under Second St. (as opposed to Main St.)
Other interesting findings: The vast majority of the folks who turned up to participate in last week’s meeting came by car; a plurality of those who identified their neighborhood lived in Surrey Downs, a south Bellevue neighborhood where many residents fear light rail will reduce their property values; and fewer and fewer bothered to vote as the night wore on.
As I reported last week, many residents were incensed that they weren’t given the option to place a protest vote of “none of the above,” prompting many (as many as a third) to refuse to vote at all.
