Metro Seeking Input on RapidRide K

After pausing work on RapidRide K (Totem Lake to Eastgate via Kirkland and Bellevue) in 2020, King County Metro has restarted planning and design of the project. Building on the planning effort started in 2019, Metro is seeking community input on various aspects of project design, including walking/rolling access and the siting of a few specific stations. The route is currently expected to start service in 2030.

RapidRide K will replace portions of current routes 239, 250, 255, and 271, and include new features familiar to other recently-opened and upcoming RapidRide lines such as upgrades for reliability, improved bus stations, and increased frequencies.

The survey first asks how the respondent is related to the route, what types of transportation they use most often, how they might be drawn to use public transportation more often, and a few questions about how they would get to and from stations on the route.

Then, it asks for input on routing and station locations, which we discuss here.

Map of the planned route for RapidRide K with potential station locations, provided by Metro.Picking Station Locations

Metro is asking for input on potential station locations and routing in three areas on the route: along 108th Avenue NE in southern Kirkland, downtown Bellevue, and routing south of Bellevue.

108th Avenue Northeast

In south Kirkland, Metro is considering two station locations between the proposed Northeast 53rd Street station and the South Kirkland Park & Ride:

1) 108th Ave NE and NE 47th Street

2) 108th Ave NE and NE 45th Street

Map of potential station locations on 108th Ave NE in south Kirkland, provided by Metro.

Option 1 (NE 47th street) seems to have a slightly better walkshed than Option 2 (NE 45th street), but Option 2 offers slightly better stop spacing between the surrounding stops and better access to Watershed Park to the east.

Downtown Bellevue

Metro is considering two station locations and associated routings around the Bellevue Transit Center (BTC):

1) along 108th Avenue NE on the west side of BTC

2) along 110th Ave NE on the east side of BTC, adjacent to the Bellevue Downtown Link 2 Line station.

Map of potential RapidRide K station locations in Downtown Bellevue, provided by Metro.

While Option 1 (108th Ave NE, west of BTC) has a larger walkshed, and is a closer walk to popular destinations like the Bellevue Square mall and Bellevue Arts Museum, Option 2 (110th Ave NE, east of BTC) offers a much closer transfer to light rail at Bellevue Downtown Station. On the surface, Option 2 may seem like an easy choice, but a worse transfer experience downtown to support the larger walkshed of Option 1 may be mitigated by a decent transfer to Wilburton Station on 116th Ave to the north, and (depending on which option moves forward here) South Main Station on 112th Ave to the south.

South of Downtown Bellevue

Metro is considering two routing options and associated station locations between downtown Bellevue and the Lake Hill Connector:

1) via Main street and 116th Avenue SE, with a station at Main and 112th Ave SE west of I-405 and a station at 116th Ave SE and SE 1st street east of I-405

2) via 112th Avenue SE and SE 8th street with a station on 112th Avenue just south of the East Main Link 2 Line station and a station at SE 8th Street and 114th Ave SE, both west of I-405.

Map of potential routing and station locations south of downtown Bellevue, provided by Metro.

The main choice here is how RapidRide K should serve the East Main Link 2 Line station, and whether it should then serve the office parks at SE 8th street and 114th Ave SE, or the businesses at 116th Ave SE and SE 1st street. The former includes an office park which will get a RapidRide station right at the entrance, as well as another station at the front door of East Main Station, with a large hotel across the street. The 116th option, on the other hand, has two car dealerships in its walkshed, and is a farther walk from East Main Station. It does have some offices that would benefit from transit access, and shortens the walk to retail businesses on 116th Ave and NE 4th St. But with the 271 service on 116th Ave slated to go away when East Link opens, and replacement route 220 following option 2 on this map, it doesn't seem worthwhile to pursue the least important parts of the route 271 alignment at the cost of great access to light rail, work, and lodging on Option 2.

The survey is accessible here and open through July 24.

Alex Kvenvolden, Sherwin Lee, and Mike Orr contributed to this report.