Shorter downtown tunnel proposed for East Link

Sound Transit is studying a new light-rail route in Bellevue that could include a shorter downtown tunnel. When combined with a route that runs along 112th Avenue Northeast, the new proposal could shave a possible $75 million or more in costs off East Link.

The south portal, or tunnel entrance, has two potential locations: at Main Street or a couple of blocks north at Northeast Second Street, said Don Billen, the agency's east-line project manager.

Engineering is still at a very early stage for these and several other variations entering downtown Bellevue and the hospital district east of Interstate 405, with a final alignment choice due next year.

If a shorter tunnel route did save $75 million, that could close a funding gap, Billen told transit-board members Thursday. A downtown tunnel is thought to cost $320 million more than going on the surface — which city officials have resisted because the north-south trains would disrupt car traffic on downtown's limited east-west streets.

Bellevue has offered to cover about half the tunnel costs, while Sound Transit is seeking cost cuts and federal grants to make the budget pencil out.

Billen said another reason to shift the tunnel north would be the chance to reduce noise in the nearby Surrey Downs neighborhood, where single- family homes sit a few blocks from the bustling towers of downtown.

Meanwhile, transit officials also are considering routes on 112th Avenue, just to the south of downtown.

Surrey Downs residents have criticized a number of proposals, and fewer than half its voters favored the $18 billion ballot measure to extend light rail in three directions, including Bellevue and Overlake by around 2021. Severe noise problems near the Duwamish River rail bridge in Tukwila — where tracks are elevated — have prompted south-central Bellevue residents to worry about similar impacts on them.

Four of the six options for Bellevue shown Thursday would eliminate an elevated curve at 112th and Main Street in favor of a quieter, cheaper, at-grade approach to the downtown tunnel, a response to criticism in the city of the elevated option.

The full Sound Transit report detailing the options for South Bellevue and downtown is available. Sound Transit also is holding a community meeting Tuesday in Bellevue to discuss the six 112th Avenue alternatives. The workshop at City Hall, 450 110th Ave. N.E., runs from 6:30-8:30 p.m.