Council right on light rail route

Published 4:07 pm Monday, August 16, 2010

In the August 6 Bellevue Reporter, R.T. (Dick) Haelsig wrote of his

unhappiness with the Bellevue City Council in resisting Sound Transit’s plan to ram the routing of the light rail line down 112th, regardless of the impact on that area and the neighborhoods that occupy it.

The council has this one right. The impact on the south Bellevue area is unacceptable and unnecessary. The council’s preferred routing will work just as well with less impact. If it complicates negotiations for a downtown tunnel, that’s unfortunate. Given the recent revelations about Sound Transit’s financial woes, the tunnel may be hard to pull off in any case.

I did a little research and see that Mr. Haelsig does not appear to live in the impacted area. So it’s very easy for him to say “suck it up and suffer” to the residents who will be impacted.

No vote on routing alternatives in Bellevue has taken place and we can only hope the council will continue to resist Sound Transit and represent the citizens of Bellevue. Despite Mr. Haelsig’s comments, that group includes those who live in south Bellevue.

David A. Cox, Bellevue