Upcoming East Link open houses focus on designs for East Main Station Segment, Downtown Bellevue

Residents can get an update and provide input as designs reach 60 percent completion

Upcoming open houses will give residents a chance to review the advancing designs for the East Link system in the area of East Main Station and through Downtown Bellevue.

East Main Station Segment Open House
5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25
Presentation begins at 5:30 p.m.
Red Lion Hotel Bellevue 11211 Main St., Bellevue
This event will focus on the design of the segment between Southeast Fourth Street and Main Street, including the East Main Station.

Downtown Bellevue Segment Open House
5-7 p.m. Tuesday, March 25
Presentation begins at 5:30 p.m.
Bellevue City Hall, 450 110th Ave. N.E., Bellevue
This event will focus on the design of the segment between Main Street and 120th Avenue Northeast, including the Bellevue Transit Center and Hospital stations.

The designs for these portions of the East Link project are now approximately 60 percent complete. The open houses are co-hosted by the City of Bellevue Light Rail Permitting Citizen's Advisory Committee. Committee members will be on hand to discuss the designs with the public.

The scheduled 2023 opening of East Link will offer riders fast, congestion free, and reliable access to destinations along a regional light rail system stretching approximately 50 miles. Approximate travel times from East Main Station include 16 minutes to downtown Seattle, 27 minutes to the University of Washington and 52 minutes to Sea-Tac Airport (with a transfer at International District Station).

By 2030 East Link is projected to carry about 50,000 riders each weekday. As the region's population continues growing East Link will provide expanded transportation capacity to the I-90 corridor. Increases in the length and frequency of trains over time offer the capacity to carry from 8,000 to 12,000 people per hour in each direction, more than doubling the person-carrying capacity of I-90.