Bellevue continues negotiating light rail route
Aug 9, 2011, 7:10 AM | Updated: Oct 10, 2012, 7:28 am
The city of Bellevue is closer to a deal with Sound Transit over the location of light rail into its downtown.
On Monday night, city leaders agreed to keep talking about the best route through the Eastside city.
The Sound Transit board supports installing tracks from I-90 to Overlake, including a tunnel through downtown. The city has resisted the tunnel, in part because of the cost.
On Monday, the Bellevue City Council agreed to keep language in a preliminary agreement that removes any threat of legal action while talks with Sound Transit continue.
“While we’re negotiating, we won’t sue each other. It’s very common,” said City Councilmember Claudia Balducci. “We wouldn’t want them to sue us, they don’t want us to sue them as long as we’re negotiating, and frankly, if we end up suing each other, negotiations are probably over.”
Councilmember Kevin Wallace sought to eliminate the clause prohibiting the city from suing. But Councilmember Grant Degginger voted with the majority to maintain the language.
“It’s very hard to negotiate with another party when you’re in the middle of suing them,” said Degginer. “We’re just agreeing that we’re putting down our swords and trying to negotiate.”
Bellevue is trying to cap its share of the tunnel cost at $150 million and force Sound Transit to find ways to reduce noise and congestion along the route it prefers.
