Regards,

   -Jonathan

Dear Neighbors, For several months, members of the Vuecrest community have been talking with the City of Bellevue and Sound Transit about the bus layover area behind QFC. When four or more buses are parked there, usually at peak travel times, they block the eastbound lane of NE 10th Street. When this happens cars can get backed up in all directions, making it impossible to leave our neighborhood from the entrance on Belfair Lane. You may have noticed significant tree cutting activity along NE 10th about a week ago, removing low-hanging branches. Believe it or not-this was done to enable double-decker buses to be used on these routes. You can expect to see a bit of London towards the end of this month, as long buses are replaced by tall ones, hopefully relieving this bottleneck. At least until work begins on the apartments across the street... Also at our east entrance, Vuecrest residents have been expressing concern to the Vuecrest Board and to the City of Bellevue about the dangers of the intersection of 10th and 100th for both vehicles and pedestrians. Despite some changes to this intersection (such as larger stop signs installed last year), the problems have continued. To help mitigate this problem, the City of Bellevue is investigating replacing the four-way intersection with a roundabout (see diagram): [cid:image002.png@01D4DE78.55C0AF80] Beyond safety and traffic impacts, this redesign has several side effects that may be of interest to Vuecrest neighbors: * The crosswalks are moved away from the intersection. The west crosswalk would be inside our neighborhood. * Construction of new sidewalks may interfere with our entrance plantings and walls. * Northbound NE 10th will go from two lanes to one lane. The City has not decided what it would do with the extra space. Parking? Bus layover space? I have suggested a median planter to buffer our neighborhood from new developments on the other side of the street. I also would like to investigate using the space to expand the sidewalk into a wider, greener, more pedestrian- and pet-friendly walkway. * There may be an opportunity to add plantings, art, or other features to the center island to emphasize the transition between downtown and residential neighborhoods. If you have suggestions, or are interested in participating in the discussions with the city, please contact me or another member of the Vuecrest Board. Regards, -Jonathan Jonathan Kagle Vice President Vuecrest Community Association www.vuecrest.net<about:blank>