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South Downtown I-405 Access Study Online Open House

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Consultation has concluded

Map of the study area in south downtown Bellevue. The study area extends to Northeast Second Street to the north, 112th Avenue Southeast to the west, south of Southeast Eighth Street to the south and Lake Hills Connector to the east. The map also includes the planning Link light rail and station, Grand Connection, Lake to Lake greenway trails and King County’s Eastrail

8/21/2020: Open house now closed. Thank you for the comments; a summary will be published on the site.


Welcome to the South Downtown I-405 Access Study online open house! Bellevue continues to grow, with the new East Main light rail station opening in 2023 and plans for development south of downtown and in the Wilburton area. The City of Bellevue is working to address traffic congestion and help people get where they need to go, whether they are walking, biking, riding transit or driving.

The city is partnering with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to study a new I-405 interchange between Northeast Second Street and Southeast Eighth Street.

Use this online open house to learn about the study and interchange alternatives we are considering. Please give your feedback by August 21.

Map of the study area in south downtown Bellevue. The study area extends to Northeast Second Street to the north, 112th Avenue Southeast to the west, south of Southeast Eighth Street to the south and Lake Hills Connector to the east. The map also includes the planning Link light rail and station, Grand Connection, Lake to Lake greenway trails and King County’s Eastrail

8/21/2020: Open house now closed. Thank you for the comments; a summary will be published on the site.


Welcome to the South Downtown I-405 Access Study online open house! Bellevue continues to grow, with the new East Main light rail station opening in 2023 and plans for development south of downtown and in the Wilburton area. The City of Bellevue is working to address traffic congestion and help people get where they need to go, whether they are walking, biking, riding transit or driving.

The city is partnering with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to study a new I-405 interchange between Northeast Second Street and Southeast Eighth Street.

Use this online open house to learn about the study and interchange alternatives we are considering. Please give your feedback by August 21.

Consultation has concluded

  • Study purpose and need

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    • Plan for rapid growth. By 2035, Downtown, Wilburton and East Main light rail station areas planned to grow by 50 percent.
    • Ease congestion and improve safety by adding an I-405 interchange in south Downtown Bellevue.
    • Improve access to and from destinations along I-405 and on local streets for people walking, rolling, biking, and riding transit.
    • Support urban design, land use, economic development and transportation policies.

  • Guiding principles

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    • Improve access and efficiency
    • Encourage safe multimodal connections
    • Support economic development
    • Align with existing plans and policies
    • Engage stakeholders and community
    • Manage cost

  • Decision-making process

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    • A graphic of the decision-making process. One box labelled “Public” and another box labelled “Stakeholders” have arrows pointing to a circle labelled “Study work group – Alternative analysis.” The circle labelled “Study work group – Alternative analysis” has an arrow pointed up to a box labelled “City council/Washington State Department of Transportation – Alternative selection.” This box has an arrow that points up to a final box labelled “State legislature – Funding decision.”

    Using both community input and evaluation criteria, the study work group will evaluate interchange alternatives. The study work group includes staff from the City of Bellevue, Washington State Department of Transportation and Sound Transit. The study work group will identify a preliminary preferred alternative and present it to the City Council. The City Council and WSDOT will recommend a preferred alternative to the state legislature to consider funding to design and build the project.

  • Evaluating the alternatives

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    The study team has identified several interchange alternatives, including a “no build” option. The team developed the following two-step evaluation process to help choose the alternative that best meets the project’s purpose and need.

    Step 1 - Fatal flaw screening

    We analyzed the alternatives for the following:

    • Compatibility with Bellevue’s plans and policies
    • Compliance with federal and state policies
    • Feasibility of construction

    Using this process, we eliminated several alternatives.

    Step 2 - Alternatives evaluation

    We are evaluating the alternatives that passed the fatal flaw screening based on the following criteria:

    • Travel time
    • Missing links, barriers or conflict points
    • Impact on property development
    • Alignment with adopted plans
    • Costs
    • Stakeholder support
    • Community input

    Learn more about the preliminary alternatives and take our survey on the next tab.