 Yesterday, I joined community leaders to break ground on King County Parks’ new NE 8th Street Eastrail Bridge that will enable people to walk, ride and roll safely across one of the busiest roads in King County as they travel along Eastrail. The bridge also connects with Sound Transit’s Wilburton Station, bringing trails and transit together.
 I am especially excited that the bridge will include major artistic and educational elements that convey the legacy of Japanese American residents who helped to grow the City of Bellevue. Over the past few years, I have worked with a community-led group called the Bellevue Japanese American Legacy Project that will install art on the 500-foot-long bridge. The bridge is an ideal location for this commemoration because it is near the former Bellevue Growers Association Packing and Shipping Warehouse, which was a central hub for processing and shipping produce grown by Japanese American truck farmers on the Eastside in the first half of the 20th century. With this crossing, we recognize and honor the deep history of this area and create a safer, more walkable city for future generations.
 I can’t wait to walk and ride over it next year. To learn more about Eastrail progress and what new trail segments are anticipated to open in the coming years, check out King County Parks’ Eastrail map:
Join the King County Board of Health!
 Are you passionate about improving public health in King County? Residents across King County are encouraged to apply to be a member of the King County Board of Health as it grows its membership to include more people who represent the public, healthcare, and other community stakeholders.
Applications are due June 30, 2022. To learn more, please visit Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Board of Health webpage and mark your calendars to join staff at an online open houses via Zoom this Saturday May 21, 2:00-3:30 p.m. or Tuesday May 24, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Our region owes a great deal of our culture, character, and accomplishments to people of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Island (AANHPI) descent and it’s an honor each year to observe AANHPI Heritage Month, which is what the King County Council did this week via proclamation.
 This year, the theme is Advancing Leaders Through Collaboration, which gives us the opportunity to celebrate local leaders in the AANHPI community and to recognize how they bring people together to act collectively to achieve more than one individual can. King County TV recently featured two King County residents, chef Rachel Yang and UW professor and writer Shawn Wong, to highlight their respective work to balance culinary tradition with innovation, and to make Asian American literature an essential part of the English literary canon.
Leaders in the AANHPI community, like Rachel and Shawn, continue to be at the forefront of building community connections in King County because, through solidarity, everyone is stronger and safer.
Women transportation leaders come together
 With US Federal Transit Administrator Nuria Fernandez at the WTS International Conference
On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to join women transportation leaders from across the country on a WTS International panel facilitated by Federal Transit Administrator Nuria Fernandez. The panel, featuring 2022 Woman of the Year honorees, highlighted how critical it is for women to be a part of designing and building our transportation system. WTS’ work to mentor women in transportation is key to supporting the next generation of women leaders in the field.
The three-day WTS International Conference brings together a diverse array of transportation professionals from across North America to discuss cutting-edge transportation trends and projects and highlight women in the transportation field. Among the projects honored this year by WTS International was Sound Transit’s Operations and Maintenance Facility – East in Bellevue, which received the Innovative Transportation Solution award honoring a local innovative transportation project led by a woman or team of women. Congratulations to Hensel Phelps, who led the Sound Transit project team!
Spread the word!
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Sincerely,
 Claudia Balducci
King County Council
District 6
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