It’s very possible that the Eastside will decide the fate of Sound Transit 3, the $54 billion plan to connect mass transit lines to one another throughout King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.

As a result, the debate over the proposal in Bellevue has strong feelings on either side of the issue. At a meeting of the Bellevue Downtown Association on Friday, King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci and Bellevue City Councilmember Kevin Wallace each presented different takes on the hot-button issue before engaging in a civil back-and-forth spurred by members’ questions.

While both presenters are elected officials, they were representing their personal opinions and not that necessarily of their constituents. Balducci spoke on behalf of Mass Transit Now and Wallace spoke aligning with People for Smarter Transit.

Balducci began the presentations by reminding the business leaders in the association of how woefully behind the times the Puget Sound’s public transit system is and how vital Bellevue’s role will be in changing that.

“Bellevue is the hub of the Eastside, and that’s by design,” she said. “Sound Transit 3 creates a transit system which connects all the pieces of our transit system to each other.”

The Sound Transit 3 plan, if passed by voters this November, would open a new section of light rail line or bus rapid transit every two to three years until 2041. An extension of the ST2 route to the Redmond Technology Center into downtown Redmond, a light rail line running from Kirkland through Factoria and onto Issaquah and rapid bus transit from Bothell to Burien would directly impact Bellevue.

For Wallace, the math just doesn’t add up to a good deal for the Eastside.

“The plan that Sound Transit put in front of us is too expensive and it takes too long,” he said. “I’m not an anti-transit guy, I just think we need to use the right tools here.”

Wallace told the group that he was in favor of ST2 — the previous Sound Transit plan currently building a light rail line across Interstate 90, Mercer Island and into Downtown Bellevue — but has serious doubts about the timeline of ST3 and what it is promising. He is urging patience and a look toward small, driverless vehicles and not the fixed lines of light rail and commuter train.

“There are amazing changes in technology coming our way,” Wallace said.

Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman had previously released a transportation plan focusing on driverless vehicles as an alternative to what he saw as an emphasis on fixed rail transit.

Balducci said that such an approach is not realistic. She said that during rush hour, a fully loaded four-car light rail train could carry as many passengers as 500 cars each trip. She said the only way to improve traffic jams would be a full-fledged move like ST3.

“We are almost 50 years into the plan to build out our transit system,” she said. “More step-by-step approaches would take longer and cost more.

She said ridership projections for places like Ballard, Redmond and Everett alone would make the plan worth it.

Wallace came in on the other side when it came to value.

“The Eastside doesn’t get its fair share,” he said. “We are paying for 24.2 percent of Sound Transit revenue and getting only 18.5 percent of the funding in terms of ridership.”

He said the plan would crown King County residents as paying some of the highest tax rates in the nation. The average King County resident would pay an additional $169 in various taxes and fees of the transit plan were approved. Wallace said that overlooks the reality of the Eastside.

“This is sucking up an amazing amount of money,” he said. “A middle class household could be paying upwards of $1,000 a year to Sound Transit.”

Balducci disagreed with her former colleague here.

“He looks at dollars and cents, and I’m looking at the big picture,” she said. “We get a tremendous amount of value for what we are paying.”

She said previous Sound Transit packages were Seattle-focused, and that ST3 would expand transit on the Eastside as well as connecting to north and south King County. Balducci said the proposed Bus Rapid Transit and light rail heading to a hub in Bellevue was more “value” than had been seen before.

The ST3 plan will get $27.7 billion from new or expanded taxes and $11 billion from bonds, with the rest coming from existing taxes and other, smaller sources. Balducci said the average Eastside household will see a tax increase of about $300 per year, or about $25 a month.

The debate remains multi-faceted. Voters will be looking at their pocketbooks and also at the future of transportation in the region. The voters of King, Snohomish and Pierce counties will have to choose how they want to move forward, but wherever the Eastside swings could ultimately decide the entire ballot.