The MF options proposed for East Link near the 405 520 interchange are a splendid idea. Not only do they provide a natural interchange with the BNSF route which would be useful in construction of light rail it’s also in the same area as the current Eastside Base. On top of that connecting the segment of East Link from here to the Woodinville Redmond spur would free up the Totem Lake to Woodinville trackage for conversion to trail use. This extends the existing 520 bike trail and ties it back in with the Sammamish River trail between Bothell and Woodinville. That section of rail is problematic because of the number of at grade crossings which have proved to be a safety issue and adversly impact traffic. Although retaining a spur as far north as Par Mac might make sense.

Rail up the east side of Lake Sammamish will never happen. It took years of court battles just to get it changed to a bike trail. Rail there is about as likely as using the Burke Gilman from Bothell to the UW, never happen. And that’s exactly where we’ll be 10 years down the road with ESR if the emphasis now is tearing it up rather than continuing it’s use as a rail corridor.

C3T gains 3 minutes, 1,500 segment boardings and 4,000 system riders over C4A for a cost difference of $510 million when both connect from B2E.

If you consider $1,220 million, the cost of the most expensive non-tunnel segment B and C combination such as B3/C8E, to be the celling on what Sound Transit is willing to spend for those segments, then only $450 million has to be found to fund the tunnel. I’d hazard a guess some sort of TIF scheme could probably cover the difference.

I believe the cost ranges given for different potential alignments within a given segment only cover the variable cost of connecting to other segments or adding or dropping optional stations. I don’t believe these ranges cover other potential cost variables such as labor or materials.

I think that should be considered.

The station is very close to downtown park, which is the best park in bellevue imo and it’s also close to gilbert’s, which has the best sandwiches on the east side.

Whatever is going to make one cheap, is likely going to make the other cheap, too. Whether it’s construction costs, land costs, labor costs, materials costs, etc.

Your estimates are very misleading!

If it’s going to be the cheapest for b2e/c3t, I would guess for the same reasons* it would be the cheapest for b3/c4a, which means that the difference is more like $540 million, and if it’s the most expensive for B3/C4A, I think for the same reasons* it would be a difference of $590 million.

*whether those are low construction materials price, lower land values, etc.

…I will have to block out some time on the 21st; thanks for posting the info.