Consistent with long-term plans, the city began installing bikeways downtown to make streets safer in Bellevue's busiest neighborhood. Bikeways are designated spaces for people bicycling, separated from motor vehicle traffic using striping or physical barriers.
NE 12th Street Multipurpose Path
The NE 12th Street Multipurpose Path project, identified in 2009 Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation Plan and funded by the Downtown Transportation Plan Implementation Program, includes a 12-foot wide multipurpose path with a 5-foot planter strip along the north side of NE 12th Street, between 108th Avenue NE and 112th Avenue NE. The path provides a link between the 108th Avenue Northeast Bikeway and a wide multipurpose path already in place on the bridge over I-405 between 112th Avenue NE and 116th Avenue NE. The project was completed in spring 2021 (webpage).
Main Street Bikeway
This project, identified in the 2009 Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation Plan as a bicycle priority corridor and part of the Lake to Lake Trail, included new bike lanes along several blocks of Main Street, extending existing bike lanes from 105th to 108th Avenue. The lanes now connect the shops and restaurants of Old Bellevue to the offices, residences, transit center and Bellevue High School along the 108th Avenue Bikeway. Installation was completed in early October 2019 (project flyer).
108th Avenue NE Bikeway
The bikeway on 108th Avenue NE was the first through the heart of downtown. It provides a safer and more comfortable route to the Bellevue Transit Center and links the I-90 and SR 520 regional trails. This bikeway was installed as a demonstration project. A before-and-after study was conducted to assess safety, efficiency and livability outcomes for people bicycling, walking, driving, using transit and transporting goods. Following the assessment, the City Council concurred with the Transportation Commission's determination to retain and refine the bikeway. The project was completed in July 2018 (video).
108th Avenue NE Complete Street
In 2020, work began on the 108th Avenue NE Complete Street project, building on the Bikeway project that was completed in 2018 and adding improvements to make this busy street safer and more convenient for all users. Improvements to the bikeway included making the bike lanes continuous, adding separate bike signals, adding more curbs, flexible posts, and planter boxes, and constructing a raised bikeway through some busy driveways. Both the 2018 demonstration project and the 2021 refinements were completed with funding from the Neighborhood Safety, Connectivity, and Congestion Levy. The Complete Street project was finished in early 2021 (project webpage).
108th Avenue NE Complete Street outreach materials:
- Video (May 2021)
- 108th Avenue Complete Street Project Construction Alert (June 2020)
- 108th Avenue Complete Street Project Fact Sheet (January 2020)
- City Council Agenda Memo on Downtown Bikeway Project Assessment and Proposed Next Steps (May 2019)
- Project Assessment: Online questionnaire results by Question / Results Raw Data (November 2018)
- Construction Ahead Flyer for bus island platform (November 2018)
- Grand Opening Celebration Flyer with event details (July 2018)
- Construction Ahead Flyer (June 2018)
- Project Flyer with details and map (May 2018)
- Loading Zones Flyer with information about changes to parking, passenger load/unloading, and freight delivery (May 2018)
- Transportation Commission Agenda Memo with info about the project evaluation plan (April 2018)
- City Council Agenda Memo with a summary of the planning process (February 2018)
- Downtown Demonstration Bikeway Brochure with info about the project's purpose, community engagement process, and benefits and tradeoffs (February 2018)
- Project Planning: Online questionnaire results by Question / Results Raw Data(January 2018)
- Open House Materials: Presentation, Keypad Polling Results, and Boards (see Document Library) (November 2017)