Mobility Coalition Presses for Master Plan Funding as Bellevue Reworks Its Transportation Budget

Bellevue Chamber  |  June 17, 2026

The Bellevue Mobility Coalition sat down with the city's transportation leadership on June 17 to walk through two efforts moving in parallel: a proposed Transportation Master Plan and a redesigned capital budget that reshapes how Bellevue funds and prioritizes projects. Both reach the City Council this fall, and the Coalition is sharpening how it will weigh in.

A Master Plan, and Half a Million to Build It

City transportation staff told the group that a $500,000 budget proposal would fund a Transportation Master Plan, a single document tying the 2024 Comprehensive Plan's transportation policies to concrete strategies, programs, and corridor plans. Staff framed it as a multi-year effort to translate broad policy into implementation, with corridor-level plans that give employers and developers clearer expectations as they plan their own projects. Andrew Singelakis, the city's transportation director, said he liked its odds.

"I'm optimistic about it because it's one-time funding and it's also scalable in terms of the budget. You never know until it's over, but I'm feeling pretty good about it getting funded." — Andrew Singelakis, Bellevue Transportation Director

Marni Heffron of Heffron Transportation, who advises the Coalition, urged the city to treat the plan as ongoing work rather than a one-and-done deliverable, starting with the highest-priority corridors and building from there.

"You could do a discrete number of high-priority corridors and intersections in your first tranche, refine the process, and there's no reason those can't continue and pick up other corridors. As you see an area starting to develop, just get out in front of it." — Marni Heffron, Heffron Transportation

A Simpler Capital Budget, Built Around Five Programs

Separately, staff previewed a redesigned capital budget that replaces 17 separate programs with five clearer categories: vehicle mobility, bicycle mobility, neighborhood mobility, major projects, and preservation. The goal is to make trade-offs legible to decision-makers and to align the six-year Capital Investment Program with the city's 20-year Transportation Facilities Plan. Coalition members pressed on how technology, multimodal overlap, and project scoring fit the new structure, and staff acknowledged the categories blur where a project like Spring Boulevard benefits roads, pedestrians, and cyclists at once. Singelakis said the longer horizon matters as the city weighs a possible Transportation Benefit District.

"When we get into the TFP, that's going to have to be fiscally constrained, and that's going to be a big body of work that happens in 2027. But I do want people to see, when we are talking about a TBD, a longer view than what's in the CIP." — Andrew Singelakis

Intersections, and a Systems View

Staff also reviewed 17 intersections projected to fall short of the city's 2045 performance standard, now backed by planning-level concepts and cost estimates. One concept alone carried a $7.42 million price tag to add vehicle capacity, with pedestrian and bicycle improvements layered on top. Heffron cautioned the Coalition against fixating on any single intersection.

"It's a systems approach based on moving people. The problem I have with looking at individual intersections is that they often don't matter. Sometimes you'll be sitting in congestion at an intersection, but the congestion started at the ramp meter three blocks down." — Marni Heffron, Heffron Transportation

What the Coalition Carries Into the Budget Hearing

The Coalition agreed to bring written and oral comment to the city's upcoming budget public hearing, building on the principles it laid out in earlier letters. Members plan to advocate for the $500,000 Master Plan line, dedicated funding for high-impact intersection and operational fixes, support for regional highway and corridor investments, and a pragmatic reading of Vision Zero that pairs the goal of eliminating serious crashes with tools like dynamic left-turn phasing and smarter signal technology. The group also flagged its interest in preparing for autonomous mobility as the city's planning horizon stretches toward the end of the decade.