Thank you,

   -Jonathan

Dear Neighbors, Today, Metro provides bus service to Vuecrest on two lines: * At our East entrance (Belfair and 100th), Route 246 goes to the Yarrow Point Freeway Station (connects to buses on 520), Bellevue Transit Center, and Factoria. * At our South entrance (Park and 8th), Route 271 goes to UW (near the Burke Museum), Bellevue Transit Center, Bellevue College, Eastgate, and downtown Issaquah. * Near our West entrance (downhill at 8th and 92nd), there is another Route 271 stop. See metro-system-map-ne (kingcounty.gov)<https://kingcounty.gov/~/media/depts/metro/maps/system/09212021/pdf/metro-system-map-ne> for a complete map of the current routes. There is a proposal to replace these lines with new routes: * A few blocks from our East entrance, Route 270 would go between the Bellevue Transit Center and Husky Stadium. It would travel on Bellevue Way, so the closest possible stop would be near Wendy's, but could be further. This route would run every 10 minutes at peak times. * At our South entrance, Route 249 would connect to the Yarrow Point Freeway Station (connects to buses on 520) and the Bellevue Transit Center. It has a meandering route that continues east to the South Kirkland Park and Ride, the Spring District, and Microsoft. Southbound, it wanders through Beaux Arts, ending up at the South Bellevue Park and Ride. This route would run every half-hour at peak times. * At our West entrance, there would be a stop for Route 249 as well. However, there is a proposal to redirect the route to take 84th instead of 92nd, which would remove this stop and extend the distance to the 520 Freeway Station. See P2_CentralProposedRoutes.pdf<https://oohsteastlinkconnect.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/maps/P2_CentralProposedRoutes.pdf> for a map of the proposed replacement routes. Some of the impacts of these changes would be: * No direct service from Vuecrest's main entrance to UW or Bellevue College. * Bus service to the South and West entrances would be less frequent and would require one transfer to get to UW and two transfers to get to downtown Seattle (either Yarrow Point Freeway Station + Husky Stadium or Bellevue Transit Center + International District Station) * The closest bus to the East entrance will be at least four blocks further. * The West entrance would have a closer stop, assuming that it is routed on 92nd and not 84th. Metro and Sound Transit have created an online survey and feedback page to get community feedback on these proposed changes. Although I have already participated in discussions with Metro, I encourage you to support convenient bus service to our neighborhood. Please share your feedback with Metro and Sound Transit by completing the questions at https://elc.participate.online/ before the deadline of Monday, October 25. Notes: * This proposed change does not impact the 532 and 535 Community Transit buses that go to Bothell, Everett and Lynnwood, though there are changes proposed here as well. * Route 249 may provide bus service near Bellevue High School. * It is unclear how these changes would impact bus riders' cars parking on 92nd or inside of Vuecrest. Thank you, -Jonathan Jonathan Kagle Vice President Vuecrest Community Association www.vuecrest.net