Traffic #1 issue among Bellevue residents and businesses

It's no surprise, traffic congestion is getting worse. So bad in fact, that Bellevue residents ranked traffic number one of the “Top Five Mentioned Biggest Problems Facing Bellevue” in the City’s biennial budget survey. Though overall satisfaction in city government is high, the statistically-valid survey results show that traffic is mentioned nearly at a three-to-one clip over the next biggest problem, housing affordability.

It’s not just residents that are fed up with traffic congestion. Over the last three years, businesses have mentioned “Transportation infrastructure and congestion” as the top business challenge they face in Bellevue – even over the extreme rise in health care costs to both employers and employees.

That’s why its crucial to build out our transportation infrastructure on the Eastside. Even in dense Downtown Bellevue, transit is projected to serve less than 17% of the growth in daily trips by 2030 – let alone overall daily trips - long after Eastlink is built. To put it another way, we need to invest in solutions to keep downtown moving.

This is why accelerating the I-405 Master Plan and other congestion-relieving projects are so important. The vast majority of new trips are going to be made via car – no matter how much we spend on - and subsidize - transit and light rail. We urge lawmakers, local officials, the business community and the general public to band together and make sure we have a transportation system that works in the years to come.