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ENTERTAINMENT | A Q & A withSeattle-based singer-songwriter Kris Orlowski [21]
Business | High-end development on top of Cougar Mountain seen as sign that luxury is FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 back in demand [7]
Community | Bellevue woman’s garden to help raise money for horticulture program [4]
Bellevue voters face new names, new congressional district BY NAT LEVY Bellevue Reporter
Mark Poch, Bellevue traffic engineering manager, at the home base of all traffic matters in the city. The area usually has one or two people monitoring traffic at any given time. NAT LEVY, Bellevue Reporter
Bellevue getting ‘smart’ about traffic High-tech traffic lights help keep things moving
on road projects to add more capacity, the city is also taking steps to make its infrastructure smarter. The six-year, $4.5 million project allows city crews to install “intelligent” traffic lights in various parts of town. The system, known as Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS), allows traffic engineers at the city to collect data in real time – and
BY NAT LEVY Bellevue Reporter
As Bellevue’s growth continues, so do the number of cars on the roads. While planners have worked for years
then adjust how long lights stay red or green. The project, which began in 2009, already has such “smart” traffic lights at 69 intersections. When complete, a total of 184 will be upgraded, said Mark Poch, Bellevue’s traffic engineering manager.
Rep. Adam Smith is facing off against four challengers in the Aug. 7 primary election in pursuit of his ninth term Dave Christie Tom Cramer in the 9th District, which looks a lot different than it did four years ago. District boundaries changed greatly this year making it the state’s first district where non-white John Orlinski Jim Postma residents are the majority. The district’s boundaries also shifted northward, adding Bellevue and Mercer Island to Renton and a number of South Seattle cities. Bellevue used to be in the 8th Congressional District and represented by Dave Reichert. It also became a more Democratic disAdam Smith trict, according to voting records, with more than 60 percent of the area’s residents voting Democrat in three previous key elections, according to the Tacoma News-Tribune. “You can’t really draw a line around the old and new 9th District,” Smith said. “We are a regional economy stretching at least from Everett to Olympia.” Smith said jobs and the economy are his biggest priority, with the education system and transportation projects close behind. He promoted his record of working with businesses, which he said will serve him well in the new 9th, which includes many of the state’s largest and most
SEE TRAFFIC, 5
SEE 9TH DISTRICT, 8
300,000 expected at arts fairs; some downtown streets to close to traffic More than 300,000 people are expected to attend three fairs in downtown Bellevue this weekend. The BAM ARTSfair at Bellevue Square, the Sixth Street Fair at the Bellevue Galleria, and the
Bellevue Festival of the Arts in the Cost Plus World Market parking lot mean several downtown streets will closed to traffic. Here is a list of street closures: ■ 100th Avenue Northeast
will be closed southbound from Northeast Eighth Street to Northeast 10th Street on Sunday, July 29 from 5:30-10 p.m. ■ 106th Avenue Northeast will be closed in both directions
between Northeast Fourth and Northeast Sixth streets until Sunday, at 11 p.m. ■ Northeast Sixth Street will be closed in both directions from Bellevue Way to 106th Avenue
Northeast until 11 p.m., Sunday. ■ 102nd Avenue Northeast will be closed in both directions between Northeast Eighth and Northeast 10th streets from 7 a.m. Friday until 11 p.m., Sunday.
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