WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao today announced that the Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau (Bureau) will provide a $99.6 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan to the City of Bellevue, Washington, at 2.86% with a term of 35 years after substantial completion to finance the completion of the BelRed Street Network Project (the Project).

The City of Bellevue is developing the Project, a combination of 12 multimodal roadways planned to support the new BelRed neighborhood in the north part of the city.  A growing economic center, Bellevue is geographically connected to Seattle, the University of Washington, the Port of Seattle, and the greater Eastside, and is at the center of a regional system of interstate highways, local street networks and transit facilities.  Substantial completion is anticipated in early 2023.

According to the City of Bellevue, the TIFIA loan will accelerate the transformation of the BelRed area, presenting an opportunity to create thousands of new jobs and housing units that leverage the regional investment of a multimodal transportation system.

Marty Klepper, Executive Director of the Bureau, said: “We are also pleased to have successfully worked with Bellevue to complete the credit review and approval process in eight months under a new streamlined process specially designed for entities with highly rated credit, shortening the overall transaction time and costs.”

The Bureau, which administers the TIFIA credit program, was established as a “one-stop shop” to streamline credit opportunities, while also providing technical assistance and encouraging innovative best practices in project planning, financing, delivery, and monitoring.  To date, the TIFIA credit program has closed $26.4 billion in financings, supporting $96 billion in rail, highway, and transit projects across the country.