East Link Light Rail Open House Tonight at City Hall

Residents will have an opportunity to learn about the light rail route through South Bellevue that the city is studying at an open house on Tuesday, March 8.

Preliminary work from the city's study will be presented at the city-hosted event, 5 to 7 p.m. in Room 1E-108 at City Hall, 450 110th Ave. NE.

"B7-Revised" is a variation of an alignment that would run along the BNSF rail corridor studied by Sound Transit in a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the regional agency's East Link project.

The City Council has hired a consultant to study the B7-Revised route to compare it with the B7 route considered in the DEIS. Specifically, the council wants to find out if design changes can improve performance, reduce impacts and reduce costs.
 
Sound Transit's Board of Directors is expected to make a final decision on an East Link route in the coming months. Sound Transit's preferred route through South Bellevue runs along Bellevue Way and 112th Avenue.

During the open house, the second the city is holding concerning its proposed light-rail route, there will be a presentation of work done so far on the study at 5:15 p.m., then again at 6:15 p.m. The presentation will cover alignment, station and park-and-ride layouts and environmental, property and traffic issues. 

The council wants to make sure that East Link, the largest and most expensive transportation project in Bellevue's history, best serves the needs of Bellevue's businesses, commuters, residents and visitors.

Free parking is available on a first-come-first-served basis in the City Hall visitor lot. Some overflow parking will be available, but space is limited. There are also several pay parking lots in the immediate area.