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Bellevue council hears plan for transportation benefit district to pay for Vision Zero and a $200M pedestrian crossing
Summary
At a May 5 budget workshop, Bellevue staff outlined a roughly $10–12 million annual gap in transportation capital funding and a $200–225 million funding need for the Grand Connection Crossing; staff proposed a Transportation Benefit District (vehicle fee + 0.1% sales tax) to raise roughly $12 million a year and split proceeds between citywide multimodal safety projects and debt service for the crossing.
Bellevue — Council members on Tuesday heard city staff and transportation advocates press for a new local funding package aimed at accelerating street safety upgrades and a planned Grand Connection Crossing.
Speakers representing a 20‑group coalition urged the council during oral communications to make Vision Zero and ‘complete streets’ the budgetary priority. “According to your staff's data, 38 people were seriously injured and three people were killed on Bellevue streets in 2025,” Kian Bradley told the council, saying those outcomes are preventable with datadriven engineering and targeted revenue.
City staff then framed the budget challenge: the city currently targets roughly $50 million a year for transportation capital and maintenance but expects a recurring shortfall of about $10–12 million annually when new projects and maintenance commitments are included. The Grand Connection Crossing, a transformational pedestrian and bike link the city estimates will cost $200–225 million, currently has about $46.5 million identified and an estimated $153 million still to secure, staff said.
To close those gaps, staff presented a layered funding approach that begins with user fees and existing revenue tools and adds a Transportation Benefit District (TBD). Based on staff estimates, a council‑authority vehicle fee of $20 could generate about $2 million a year and a 0.1% TBD sales tax about $11 million — roughly $12 million combined. Staff modeled a tentative allocation in which about 60% of TBD proceeds would support citywide multimodal safety and mobility projects and about 40% would be reserved for debt service on the crossing, while also pursuing grants, tax‑increment financing and philanthropic contributions.
Council members pressed for more detail on the split, timing and equity impacts. “We need to prioritize safety and measurable public benefit,” said one councilmember, urging staff to show how proposed dollars would be staged and evaluated. Multiple councilmembers asked staff to identify internal efficiencies and potential tradeoffs before recommending new taxes, and several said the council should consider taking a TBD measure to voters to secure public buy‑in.
Staff said the TBD proposal is intended to be actionable in this cycle and emphasized the importance of public engagement. They committed to neighborhood briefings, targeted stakeholder outreach and multiple public hearings before any council decision. Staff also noted that some revenue options are constrained by state rules and that collections for vehicle fees depend on state registration data.
If the council pursues a TBD, staff said they expect to present a preliminary proposed budget that includes specific projects and the TBD proposal in the fall, with public hearings and a final adoption target in November. The council did not vote on revenue measures at Tuesday’s workshop; it used the session to set policy direction and request more analysis.
