I-405 Closure April 1st (no foolin')

WSDOT is closing I-405 between NE Eighth Street and SR 520 in order to remove the old NE 12th Street Bridge (part of the Bellevue Braids project).

The closure will last between 11pm on Friday April 1st and 4am on Monday April 4th.

The City of Bellevue has a well updated page for traffic advisories in the area (not just this weekend's closure).

In general, ChooseYourWayBellevue.org is a great website for finding travel alternatives in Bellevue.

BICYCLE ROUTES DURING I-405 CLOSURE

If you plan to ride your bicycle in the vicinity of I-405 this weekend, you will most likely already avoid the closure area due to lack of bicycle-friendly conditions.

112th Ave NE may be affected due to heavier vehicle traffic. The other routes indicated as the best biking lanes in Bellevue should be relatively unaffected by detoured vehicles.

Check out Google Map's best bicycle routes in the City of Bellevue, compared to vehicle detours suggested by WSDOT due to I-405 closure.

TRANSIT ROUTES DURING I-405 CLOSURE

No Metro, Sound Transit, or Community Transit rider alerts have been issued to indicate any rerouting effects from this construction:

- Metro Reroutes
- Sound Transit Rider Alerts
- Community Transit Rider Alerts

Most likely, the largest effect will be slight delays due to detoured vehicle traffic onto roads such as Bellevue Way, 112th Ave NE, NE 8th St, and 148th Ave NE.

Be sure to keep an eye out for potentially delayed route timing on One Bus Away.

VEHICLE ALTERNATIVES

Lastly, be sure to heed WSDOT's vehicular advice:

"During the I-405 closure, drivers should avoid the area or take alternate routes. Use the recommended regional routes unless you plan to visit Bellevue. Downtown Bellevue will be open for business. Drivers should expect heavy traffic on the detour routes and throughout the region."

Also, be sure to watch for real time traffic congestion over the weekend.

Introducing Move Bellevue Forward

Went this this out last week to our Bellevue members. If you care about light rail in the region and Bellevue then you should know about this great group.

Introducing Move Bellevue Forward

Live in Bellevue?   Want to speak up on light rail and other transportation issues but not sure how?  Introducing Move Bellevue Forward, a new non-partisan, grassroots city-wide coalition of neighbors and community leaders dedicated to a progressive, long-term vision for Bellevue – one that includes light rail, a thriving downtown and vibrant neighborhoods.

Bellevue is a great place to live, work and play.   Whether it is light rail or transit oriented development or parks or schools,   Bellevue’s future is at stake without good leadership and community stewardship.  Your neighbors and friends as well as elected leaders including six former Bellevue mayors are getting together to keep Bellevue moving forward.

What's At Stake?
The NUMBER 1 issue right now is light rail to Bellevue.  This coalition wants to make sure that the Sound Transit East Link light rail project moves forward without delay.  The coalition supports an alignment that is affordable, has the fewest environmental impacts and the lowest construction risk and serves our neighborhoods, Downtown, the Hospital district and the Bel Red area to maximize access and ridership. That alignment is the Bellevue Way/112th route to Downtown, serving Downtown through a tunnel and station on 110th Ave and serving the areas east of Downtown by an elevated and at grade alignment.

Transportation Choices Coalition supports the principles of Move Bellevue Forward.  We’ve worked hard over the years to help Bellevue advance policies that create great communities.  And the city has more forward-thinking plans to help Bellevue grow sustainably in the future.   We want to see that vision realized.

Getting involved is easy!  Just visit http://www.movebellevueforward.org/ to learn more about the coalition and sign up.   Join your neighbors and friends from all over Bellevue to make a difference.

You can connect with Move Bellevue Forward on Facebook and Twitter

Light Rail Open House on the B Alignment in South Bellevue
Come to an open house and learn more about Bellevue’s plan to build a new multi-level parking garage in the Enatai neighborhood.  This new parking garage is not a part of any of the light rail routes studied by Sound Transit in a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the regional agency's East Link project.  Preliminary work from the city's study will be presented at the meeting. "B7-Revised" is a variation of an alignment that would run along the BNSF rail corridor.

WHAT: B7-Revised Open House
WHEN: Tuesday, March 8 from 5 to 7 p.m.
WHERE: Room 1E-108 at City Hall, 450 110th Ave. NE.