2024 Conference Mobile Workshops

*If interested, you can sign up during registration. The rate for each workshop is $15.

This mobile session will highlight how Bellevue and King County are collaborating to make the Eastrail multiuse trail relevant for occupants of future buildings to be developed alongside it in the Wilburton TOD area. With new development connecting to and "ideally" integrating with the trail corridor, the Eastrail will be the easy, preferred option for people to access adjacent buildings. Working together, the City and Eastrail corridor owners King County Parks and Sound Transit, have endorsed a vision for integrating the Eastrail with adjacent development in the Wilburton TOD area. The vision, detailed in the Eastrail Wilburton Framework Plan, is being advanced via updates to City code and via forthcoming conceptual planning for park uses alongside the trail in the 100' wide corridor.

Bellevue is known as "City in a Park" and one of the more treasured sites is Mercer Slough Nature Park.  It features amenities unique to the urban environment and is accessible to the community and region via multiple transit modes. This mobile workshop allows participants to explore the 329-acre Mercer Slough Nature Park on foot to discover the history of Mercer Slough, its ecological functions, and park amenities. The tour also highlights recent Sound Transit light rail development and related mitigation sites in the park, and regional multi-use trails that connect at Mercer Slough, making it one of the accessible parks in the state.

The City of Bellevue is moving forward with planning and implementing the ambitious Grand Connection program, which will transform a 1.5-mile corridor from the Lake Washington waterfront east through downtown to the Wilburton commercial area and Eastrail regional trail. The community-backed vision is for a series of cohesive, connected and memorable spaces where people can walk, roll, relax, gather, eat and shop. This mobile workshop will take participants on a walking tour of a portion of the planned alignment for the Grand Connection Crossing, pointing out key planned features and challenges of this highly complex project to build an active transportation bridge across I-405. The project team will share details about the ongoing planning and design process, including insights about securing funding and community support, interaction with local land use and transportation planning processes, and how to apply other lessons learned from this multiyear effort to your projects at home.

Join Lorie Hoffman, Arts and Creative Economy Manager at the City of Bellevue, and Becky Frye, Principal Planner at the City of Redmond on an engaging walking tour of the BelRed Arts District and Overlake Intercultural District. Tour highlights will include recent public art installations, sneak peaks of artwork-to-come, behind-the scenes look at some of the cultural businesses and arts organizations that call these districts home, and targeted implementation plans developed in collaboration with the arts community. Special guests from the community will also join us as we daylight creativity together in these hidden treasure troves of culture, artistry, and innovation.