Talks aim to end feud over Bellevue light-rail route

Bellevue and Sound Transit officials have opened discussions aimed at settling a long-running feud over a light-rail route through South Bellevue.

If Sound Transit agrees to do an "exceptional" job of minimizing noise, visual and traffic impacts along its preferred route, several Bellevue City Council members suggested they could drop their advocacy for a competing route that would cross Mercer Slough.

"Now it's time to look at Sound Transit's preferred route and see how it can be fully mitigated to meet Bellevue's needs. It's time for that discussion," Councilmember Jennifer Robertson said Wednesday.

"I think the light rail is going to be great. We just need to make sure it's done in a way that's sensitive to our neighborhoods and our transportation network," Robertson said.

The Bellevue council has been deeply divided on the light-rail route, with a narrow majority, including Robertson, favoring a route that would cross Mercer Slough and follow an abandoned freight-rail corridor beside Interstate 405.

A minority supported Sound Transit's preferred route along Bellevue Way Southeast and 112th Avenue Southeast.

While many South Bellevue residents preferred the old rail-corridor route, a city-sponsored study recently showed it would cost about $138 million more than Sound Transit's preferred route.

Executives of Microsoft, Boeing and other companies urged the council to "work expeditiously" to resolve the differences.

Representing Bellevue in discussions with Sound Transit CEO Joni Earl and her deputies are Bellevue City Manager Steve Sarkozy and Councilmembers Grant Degginger and Kevin Wallace. Wallace has been a leader of the majority opposing Sound Transit's planned route.

"The council would like to have a solution that works for the city and that Sound Transit can get behind, too, so that we can truly partner on this project," Degginger said.

Wallace could not be reached for comment.

Mayor Don Davidson said it would be difficult to sell the city's preferred route to Sound Transit. "I don't think that Sound Transit's going to take the risk of having to cross the slough," Davidson said. "I may be a slow learner, but things are sizing up."

Robertson publicly revealed the two-week-old discussions with Sound Transit at a City Council meeting Tuesday. The talks were supported by members of both council factions.

In addition to the South Bellevue route, Bellevue and Sound Transit are continuing to discuss how to pay for a short tunnel through downtown Bellevue, said transit spokesman Geoff Patrick. Last year, the city offered to contribute $150 million in funds, utility work and right of way to offset part of the added expense.

Patrick said a noise strategy will likely be discussed in public by the transit board. The 18-member board consists of 17 elected officials from cities and three counties, including Bellevue Councilmember Claudia Balducci and state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond.

A final environmental-impact statement is to be distributed Thursday, Patrick said, with a chapter about predicted noise levels and ways to reduce the effects on people near the trackway.

In Tukwila and Rainier Valley, Sound Transit spent millions after the mid-2009 opening of Central Link, in response to noise complaints. Steps included lubricating and grinding the tracks and installing sound-deflecting walls along elevated sections. The noisiest spot, a Duwamish River bridge, had exceeded federal limits.

Joseph Rosmann of Building a Better Bellevue, which favors the cross-slough route, told the City Council Tuesday that noise reduction on Sound Transit's preferred route could require $30 million to $50 million. The group accuses Sound Transit of inflating the relative costs of the I-405 route.

Times reporter Mike Lindblom contributed to this report.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105