Sound Transit Board completes identification of preferred East Link route

The Sound Transit Board completed work defining a preferred alternative for the East Link light rail project by selecting specific configuration options for a future route on 112th Avenue South in Bellevue, Wash.

"Our
preferred alignment would provide effective service to riders in South Bellevue
and downtown Bellevue while enabling a partnership for building a tunnel in
downtown Bellevue," said Sound Transit Board Chair and Snohomish County
Executive Aaron Reardon. "Bypassing South Bellevue, as some have proposed,
was not an attractive option. The preferred route keeps us in a position to
deliver an excellent project within our resources."

"The
three months of public meetings we’ve just completed on options for 112th
Avenue reflect our commitment to continue working with community members,"
Reardon said. "My goals have been to be fair and transparent. We
appreciate the time hundreds of residents took to participate and the unique
coalition that some of the most directly impacted property owners has formed to
work constructively with us. We understand there are still residents close to
the proposed alignment who have concerns about impacts. We are committed to
identifying effective mitigation for the final alignment we select next
year."

In
April, Sound Transit and the City of Bellevue’s signed a term sheet in which
the agency agreed to identify up to $75 million in project savings in order to
afford a potential downtown Bellevue tunnel alignment which was not part of the
original project budget. The City agreed to provide up to $150 million in city
right of way, in-kind services and other means to reduce the overall project
costs.

"Today’s
action furthers our efforts to provide a tunnel for downtown Bellevue while
effectively serving the many residents in Bellevue and throughout the Eastside
who would transfer between local buses and light rail in South Bellevue,"
said Sound Transit Board and Bellevue City Council Member Claudia Balducci.
"The South Bellevue Park-and-Ride serves commuters from Bellevue as well
as the entire Eastside. It’s a vital transit connection. Bypassing South
Bellevue is not a good option."

"East
Link will finally enable residents throughout Bellevue and the Eastside to
reach destinations in Bellevue, Redmond and all up and down the I-5 corridor
without worrying about congestion," Balducci said. "It will also stimulate
economic growth throughout the Eastside and the entire region. We need to build
East Link as quickly as possible while making sure we implement effective
mitigation."

The
alternate "B7" alignment that some have advocated along the I-90 and
I-405 freeways would either bypass South Bellevue altogether or further expand
the financial gap that must be filled to build a tunnel by developing a brand
new South Bellevue facility near I-405. The preferred alignment’s station
serving residents and businesses in the area of Bellevue’s Southeast 8th Street
would not be built under this option.

The
preferred alignment crosses Lake Washington on I-90, with a station serving
Mercer Island. On the east side of the lake it heads north along Bellevue Way
to a station at the existing regional transit hub at the South Bellevue
Park-and-Ride, where expanded bus facilities and a new parking garage with
1,400 spaces would be constructed. From there, the preferred alignment
continues north on 112th Avenue. The Board selected an alignment running on the
west side of 112th Avenue, consistent with the requests of an organized
coalition of affected property owners. In downtown Bellevue the preferred
alignment includes tunnel option, as advocated by many in the community, as
well as an at-grade option. Today’s Board action identified a preferred
location of the Hospital Station in the Eastside BNSF corridor at Northeast 8th
Street. The preferred alignment travels to Redmond via the Bel-Red corridor.

While
the identification of a preferred alternative is an important step in the
process, it is not a final decision. All of the alternatives in the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement will continue to be carried forward and
evaluated. The new alternatives introduced by the Board since publication of
the Draft EIS will be evaluated in a Supplemental Draft EIS this fall and
included in the Final EIS. The Board will select the final East Link route in
2011 after completion of the final EIS. East Link construction is scheduled to
start in late 2013 or early 2014. Service to Bellevue is scheduled to open in
2020 under the at-grade option or 2021 under the tunnel option. Service to the
Overlake area of Redmond is scheduled to open in 2021.

The
updated East Link preferred alternative modifies the alternative that the Sound
Transit Board identified in 2009 and modified last April when the Board identified
a potential downtown tunnel and a surface alternative through downtown
Bellevue. Both the at-grade alignment and the tunnel will advance through
preliminary engineering as the Final EIS is completed.

In all,
the preferred East Link route runs approximately 18 miles east from downtown
Seattle to Mercer Island and South Bellevue, crossing Lake Washington in center
roadway of I-90. The first 14 miles to the Overlake Transit in Redmond are
funded for construction and estimated to cost $2.4 billion (2007$) with a
surface alternative in downtown Bellevue and $2.6 billion (2007$) with a
tunnel. Under longstanding agreements with federal, state and local partners,
the I-90 corridor is being readied for light rail by constructing new HOV lanes
across the lake on the outer roadways, adding 24-hour HOV service both
eastbound and westbound while preserving the existing number of general purpose
lanes.

East
Link will connect Mercer Island, Bellevue and Redmond to the Link light rail
system that opened last year between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport and
with the University Link line from downtown Seattle to the University of
Washington opening in 2016. With the completion of Sound Transit 2 expansions
in 2023, it will be part of a regional light rail system stretching 55 miles.
When complete to downtown Redmond, the East Link line will serve up to 50,000
daily riders on one of the region’s most congested travel corridors.

While the
Sound Transit 2 ballot measure does not fund a light rail segment between
Overlake Transit Center and Redmond’s downtown areas, the Board identified a
preferred route for a future connection that runs along State Route 520 and
along the northern edge of Marymoor Park.