Bellevue Transit Center is ringed with blue construction fencing this fall. In Sound Transit's own photo of the site, the fence surrounds the bays where Eastside buses have stopped for decades. Route 220 and Bellevue-bound Route 556 now board at a temporary stop on 110th Avenue NE, just south of NE 6th Street.
That fenced block now carries more of the bus system than it ever has. On August 29, 2026, two long routes out of Bellevue ended: the ST Express 550 to downtown Seattle and Metro's Route 271, which ran from Eastgate through downtown Bellevue to the University District. Their replacements are shorter pieces, and almost every one of them meets at this one spot. Someone who once rode a single bus from Lake Hills to the U District, or from Issaquah to the U District on the 556, now changes vehicles downtown. The transfer hub also happens to be a construction site until early next year.
Two long routes were cut into pieces
Sound Transit's fall 2026 service change page lists the 550, Bellevue to Seattle, as "Route eliminated." The alternatives it names are the 2 Line and Route 556. King County Metro's service change page shows the 271 deleted and its route divided among three others.
| If you used to ride | You now ride | Timetable example |
|---|---|---|
| 550, Bellevue to downtown Seattle | 2 Line from Bellevue Downtown Station | 5:15 a.m. departure reaches Westlake at 5:42 a.m. |
| 271, Bellevue to the U District | Route 270 from Bellevue Transit Center via SR 520 | About 28 to 34 minutes to 15th Ave NE and NE 42nd St |
| 271, Eastgate and Lake Hills to downtown Bellevue | Route 220 to Bellevue Transit Center | About 18 minutes, Bellevue TC to Eastgate |
| 271, Medina, Hunts Point, and Clyde Hill | Revised Route 249 | Runs Spring District Station to South Bellevue Station |
| 556 from Issaquah to the U District | Route 556, now ending at Bellevue Transit Center | Every 15 minutes |
The 550 change is the easiest to explain. When Sound Transit opened the 2 Line across the I-90 floating bridge on March 28, 2026, it also opened Mercer Island and Judkins Park stations. From that point the bus and the train were serving the same trip across the lake. Seattle Transit Blog reported that 550 weekday ridership in April 2026 fell 48% from the month before, to 2,306 riders. The August cut ended a route that many riders had already left.
The train sets the rhythm downtown
The 2 Line timetable lists weekday trains every 8 minutes from 5 to 9 a.m. and from 3 to 7 p.m. Trains run every 10 minutes during the middle of the day and from 7 to 10 p.m., then every 12 to 16 minutes later at night. On weekends, service is generally every 10 minutes until 10 p.m. At those intervals, a missed train from Bellevue Downtown Station costs you minutes. The longer waits in the new network are on the buses that feed the train.
Route 270 is the clearest example. On weekdays it runs from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., generally every 15 minutes during the day and every 30 minutes in the evening. On weekends it runs from about 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., hourly at the start and end of the day and about every half hour at midday. The bus travels on Bellevue Way and SR 520 and stops at Evergreen Point and UW Station on its way to the U District. The first listed trip takes about 21 minutes from Bellevue Transit Center to UW Station. That time holds only if your trip begins at the transit center.
Route 220 starts there too. From Eastgate Park & Ride it serves Bellevue College and Lake Hills before reaching Bellevue Transit Center. It runs about every 15 minutes on weekday daytimes and generally every 30 minutes on weekends. Departures from the transit center run from 6 a.m. until midnight. The 556 from Issaquah no longer goes to University District Station. It now ends at Bellevue Transit Center and Bellevue Downtown Station, every 15 minutes. The revised 249 runs between Spring District Station, South Kirkland, Yarrow Point, and South Bellevue Station, and it also stops at Bellevue Transit Center, Bay 1. Metro describes the 249's new path as serving Medina, Hunts Point, and Clyde Hill in place of Bellevue Way.
Each of these routes delivers riders to the same downtown block, and they arrive at a different frequency than the train they connect to.
The hub is being rebuilt while it carries the load
Sound Transit's September 2, 2026 post, What's going on at the Bellevue Transit Center, explains the fencing. The center is being prepared for Stride bus rapid transit, so that S1 and S2 buses can connect there with Link. The canopy is being modified to fit future all-electric double-decker buses, and its steel refreshed. Stride signage and real-time information screens are being added. Sound Transit scheduled the work to run through January 2027.
While the work goes on, routes 220, 240, ST 556, and ST 566 are detoured around the transit center. Route 220 and Bellevue-bound 556 use the temporary stop on 110th Avenue NE south of NE 6th Street. Sound Transit's detour alert says the reroute runs through late December. Separately, Metro moved Route 240 to Renton from Bay 1 to Bay 9 at the transit center. A rider who learned the new routes in September could still be waiting at the wrong curb in October.
The canopy work, the screens, and the Stride signage are what Sound Transit is building so that more buses can meet the train in the same place. For the next few months, the hub stays busy and inconvenient at the same time.
Other stations that skip the fenced block
Some trips no longer need to start downtown, depending on where in Bellevue you live.
- South Bellevue Station has the most bus connections outside downtown. Its bus plaza serves Metro routes 111, 203, 226, 240, and 249 and ST routes 547 and 556. Its garage has 1,524 spaces, 22 of them ADA spaces, according to Sound Transit's parking listing. Route 111 is now an all-day, all-week route between Renton and South Bellevue Station and no longer goes to downtown Seattle.
- Wilburton Station connects to the B Line between Bellevue Transit Center and Redmond.
- East Main Station has no connecting bus route listed. Riders get there on foot or by bike.
- Mercer Island Station is now the western end of Metro Route 218, which no longer goes to downtown Seattle. It is also where new Route 215 from North Bend, Snoqualmie, and Issaquah connects with the 2 Line.
From the Lake Hills or Eastgate side of town, the 220 still runs to the transit center. For a trip to Seattle, though, the 249 or a drive to the South Bellevue garage gets you onto the 2 Line without going through the 110th Avenue NE detour.
Dates to keep through spring
- Saturday, October 31, and Sunday, November 1: Sound Transit has scheduled overnight rail milling after 11 p.m. Depending on progress, a bus bridge may replace trains between Judkins Park and International District/Chinatown. Check the planned service disruptions page before a late trip back from Seattle that weekend.
- Late December: The 110th Avenue NE detour for routes 220, 240, 556, and 566 is scheduled to end.
- January 2027: Stride construction at Bellevue Transit Center is scheduled to finish.
- March 26, 2027: The current Metro timetables for routes 220, 249, and 270 run through this date.
Before then, there was one cross-lake closure this fall. On October 17 and 18, 2 Line trains ran only between Downtown Redmond and South Bellevue, and shuttles covered the trip to International District/Chinatown. Weekend work like that is most likely to change your Saturday plans. Since the 550 is gone, no bus remains to take its place when the train is out.
If changes like these affect where you might live next, or how a home you are selling fits into someone's commute, I'm happy to talk through which stations and routes serve which parts of Bellevue. Ankush Homes is here when you're ready. Let's Connect.
