Bellevue's plan for where to build new sidewalks, bike lanes, and road improvements is up for public review later this week.
The Bellevue Transportation Commission will hold a study session on the 2026 Mobility Implementation Plan Update, the framework that determines how the city prioritizes transportation investments as it plans for what the Comprehensive Plan projects as 35,000 new housing units and 70,000 new jobs by 2044.
The session is open to residents in person and via Zoom, and anyone who signs up can speak for up to three minutes.
The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 9, in Room 1E-113 at Bellevue City Hall. Residents can also join via Zoom (Webinar ID: 828 9934 3715, Passcode: 861098).
To speak during oral communications, sign up between noon and 6:00 p.m. on July 9 at bellevuewa.gov/transportation-oral-comms or in person using the QR code posted inside Room 1E-113. Each speaker gets three minutes.
Residents needing accessibility accommodations must contact the city at 425-452-2029 or [email protected] at least 48 hours before the meeting.
The MIP is Bellevue's long-range transportation planning document, first adopted by the City Council in April 2022 via Resolution No. 10085. It uses a "layered network" approach that evaluates pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and vehicle needs together rather than in isolation.
The plan divides Bellevue into Performance Management Areas tied to land use density. Downtown, BelRed, and Wilburton/East Main are classified as high-density mixed-use zones. Crossroads, Eastgate, and Factoria fall into medium-density mixed-use. The rest of the city's residential neighborhoods form a third tier.
A key mechanism called "Mobility Units" quantifies both the demand new development places on the transportation system and the supply of infrastructure projects built to meet it. That system ties development permits directly to transportation investment.
The City Council unanimously approved the most recent update, the MIP 2025 Update, on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, via Resolution No. 10556.
The 2026 update now under review is required by Comprehensive Plan policy TR-28, which directs staff to engage the community and modify the plan as needed.
The full Sound Transit 2 Line across Lake Washington opened Saturday, March 28, 2026, with trains running roughly every eight minutes at peak. Much of Bellevue's projected growth is concentrated in transit-oriented areas like Wilburton and BelRed, and the MIP is the document that shapes whether those neighborhoods get matching pedestrian and bike connections or remain car-dependent.
The staff report detailing what specific changes the 2026 update proposes had not been publicly posted as of Thursday, July 3. The city has not announced when the Transportation Commission will send its recommendation to the City Council for a final vote. Kevin McDonald is the city's MIP project manager and the staff contact for the update.
