Realpolitiks Bellevue

Kevin Wallace

The Bellevue City Council doesn’t change its mind overnight – not even for a new majority.

Newly elected council member Kevin Wallace learned that the hard way Dec. 7, when he asked the council to pull an immediate about-face on its recommendation for East Link light-rail routing.

Talk about sprinting out of the gate.  Wallace was just sworn in the previous Monday.

The newcomer withdrew his fast motion following rebukes from veteran councilmembers John Chelminiak, Mayor Grant Degginger, and Deputy Mayor Claudia Balducci, who told him it was preposterous to expect a decision so quickly on such a big issue.

“This is a major shift,” Chelminiak said. “To spring this on your council members – not a good start. Not a good start.”

To be fair, voters this year did elect a full slate of councilmembers who support a different route from the one council previously chose in February. And Wallace stated he was under the impression that Sound Transit’s board was taking final input on routing this week.

In actuality, Sound Transit was expecting all new routing concepts, not all input, to be submitted for consideration this week. The alignment that Bellevue’s new council majority supports is made up of existing alternatives, so there was nothing to worry about.

This, plus a desire for “more unity and support,” as Wallace put it to The Reporter, led to a retraction of the motion.

To review the alignment issue, the council voted in February to recommend a South Bellevue route that would travel along Bellevue Way SE and 112th Ave. SE. It also chose a downtown tunnel route beneath 108th Ave. NE.

Wallace, Don Davidson, Conrad Lee, and Jennifer Robertson – whom voters elected and re-elected this fall – have expressed support for a different alignment through South Bellevue: one that uses the abandoned BNSF rail corridor west of I-405.

Supporters of the BNSF alternative say their route would cause fewer impacts to residential neighborhoods – mainly Surrey Downs and Enatai – and to a congested Bellevue Way. They also say their idea would be cheaper because it uses existing right-of-way.

Those favoring the Bellevue Way/112th Ave. option say their route would attract more riders and avoid a potential traffic mess caused by cars entering and exiting a new park-and-ride near SE Eighth St. and 118th Ave. SE, an intersection that is already jammed most days. Condo dwellers near the BNSF line also want to keep light-rail trains away from their homes.

It’s only a matter of time before supporters of the BNSF route get their way, barring any change in the minds of the newly elected council members.

Still, Balducci said at the Dec. 7 meeting that Wallace’s motion should be put on the Dec. 14 agenda, so there would be time to study the issue and allow for public notice.

Wallace suggested there was little reason to rehash a familiar topic.

“We all know all the arguments,” he said. “Continued additional study and conversation really isn’t necessary to make an informed decision about this subject.”

The council will think about it anyway.