Bellevue Issues Curb Management Plan

The city of Bellevue, Washington wants to create a consistent set of rules governing curbside space, reports Ryan Packer in The Urbanist, with a focus on shifting away from single-occupancy vehicle movement and storage through a new Curb Management Plan. “In the works since early 2022, the plan has been molded and shaped over many months of outreach and years of work to provide city leaders a toolkit for how to move forward with rethinking how those valuable spaces function to achieve broader city goals, like improved safety, vibrancy, and increased transit ridership.”

Packer explains that, currently, just 3 percent of Bellevue’s curb space is dedicated to loading zones, bus stops, or transit lanes. 60 percent of curb space is used for vehicle throughput, Packer adds. “Having fast-moving traffic directly next to pedestrian traffic also provides no buffer, impacting the city’s safety goals.”

The plan puts in motion a series of pilot programs, including one that would promote parking in off-street stalls and another that would study the potential for on-street loading. “All of these will be happening against the backdrop of the continued expansion of the city’s bike network along growth corridors near coming light rail stations, a plan being called Bike Bellevue.”

The article quotes Christopher Randels, chair of Complete Streets Bellevue, saying, “I hope that this framework, by creating more spaces that are not devoted to automobile traffic… starts to change the culture of the city in a way that pedestrians, cyclists are more visible, they’re more seen as a part of the transportation ecosystem.”