Why is a tunnel needed in downtown Bellevue?
A tunnel is imperative since the capacity of Bellevue’s downtown street system is inadequate to accommodate a street-level light rail alignment. Because of downtown Bellevue’s oversized, 600-foot long “superblocks,” there are roughly half as many streets as in a typical downtown, where the blocks are smaller. Superblocks and wide arterial streets are a legacy of Bellevue’s auto-oriented history that limit options when it comes to a downtown light rail route. Placing light rail on streets would reduce capacity and create a choke point for the East Link system. An elevated alignment takes up less roadway but was ruled out because of its negative impact on pedestrians, its impact on existing buildings, higher business displacements and lower ridership.
