Published June 10 2015
The East Link light rail project -- part of the Sound Transit 2 plan -- will begin construction in Bellevue in 2016. But on Monday, the City Council heard a briefing about even longer-range transit plans for the region: Sound Transit 3.
Sound Transit staff briefed the council on a draft list of priority projects for ST3, which would expand light rail and bus rapid transit beyond ST2 and East Link, scheduled to begin operation in 2023. Sound Transit's proposed $15 billion ST3 plan could be placed on the November 2016 ballot for a public vote.
The purpose of Monday's meeting was for the council to learn more about ST3 and to revise a draft interest statement on Sound Transit's long-range plan. The interest statement will help in the creation of a Bellevue comment letter to Sound Transit, as well as a joint interest statement with other Eastside cities.
Councilmembers expressed particular interest in such ST3 topics as extending light rail to downtown Redmond, expanding the Eastside network of park-and-ride lots, including affordable housing in transit-oriented developments, adding bus rapid transit on Interstate 405, balancing transit benefits received on the Eastside with the revenue generated, and ensuring that transit improvements provide interconnectivity among Eastside cities and with the region.
Sound Transit staff said the public will have an opportunity to comment on ST3 at a series of upcoming meetings across the region. On the Eastside, a joint meeting on long-range planning with Sound Transit and King County Metro will be 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., June 23, at the Redmond Marriott hotel, 7401 164th Ave. N.E. Sound Transit staff also invited Eastsiders to take part in an online survey at a new Sound Transit 3 website.
More information on Monday's presentation is available with the council agenda material. Video of the meeting also is available online.
Completion of Comp Plan update draws closer
Also on Monday, the council worked through a review of the remaining topics in the draft update to the city's Comprehensive Plan. Councilmembers have been reviewing sections of the draft plan since it was completed in April 2015.
The sections reviewed Monday were the utilities, environment, human services, urban design and arts elements of the plan. Additional study sessions for a focused review of the draft are scheduled for June 15 and 22. Council action to adopt the final plan is anticipated on July 20.
Topics in the draft plan that garnered specific council interest included a proposed policy that would address aesthetic impacts related to electrical lines, and a policy that would establish a citywide tree canopy target of 40 percent. The current tree canopy coverage is 36 percent.
The Comprehensive Plan is a citywide policy document that encapsulates the community vision and guides Bellevue's approach to growth and development over a 20-year planning time frame. The state-mandated plan was last updated in 2004. Work on the latest Comp Plan update began in 2013.
More information on the topics covered is available with the council agenda materials.
Commission appointments
The council made three appointments to city commissions, all for four-year terms. Judith Mercer was appointed to the Human Services Commission; Anne Morisseau and Jeremey Barksdale were appointed to the Planning Commission. Mercer and Morisseau are recent graduates of Bellevue Essentials, a city program for emerging neighborhood and community leaders that serves as an introduction to civic engagement.