Residents and others will have one last opportunity to learn more and ask questions about a revised light rail route through South Bellevue at a June 29 event. Arup North America Ltd, a consultant hired by the city, will make its third and final presentation on the B7 Revised Analysis Report.

The Wednesday event at City Hall, 450 110th Ave. N.E., includes a presentation summarizing the report from 5:30 to 6 p.m., a question-and-answer session from 6 to 6:45 p.m., and an open house ending at 7:30 p.m.

To conduct the Q&A effectively, the public is asked to submit questions in advance to Project Manager Maher Welaye at mwelaye@bellevuewa.gov or 425-452-4879.

At the end of last year, Bellevue City Council hired Arup to perform further analysis of Sound Transit's East Link Project B7/C9T alternative for light rail from I-90 to downtown. The goal was to determine if further development of Sound Transit's B7/C9T alternative would improve performance, reduce costs, and reduce impacts of the East Link route in South Bellevue.

The new B7-Revised alternative is a variation of the B7 alternative studied in Sound Transit's Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for the East Link project.

The B7-Revised alternative includes a new transit station and park-and-ride near the Bellevue Way/Interstate 90 Interchange. The route then parallels I-90 to cross Mercer Slough, and runs along the west side of I-405 within a segment of the former BNSF railroad right-of-way.

It also includes a new transition from aerial to at-grade at the Red Lion Hotel site near Main Street and 112th Avenue Northeast, and enters a downtown tunnel portal near Northeast Second Street and 112th Avenue Northeast. The study analyzed the B7-Revised alignment for ridership, cost, right-of-way impacts, noise and visual impacts, and environmental effects.

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