A letter drafted by the city detailing changes the Redmond City Council hopes to see implemented in the Sound Transit Light Rail expansion was approved at Tuesday’s meeting.

At the meeting, staff presented to the council changes that will affect the downtown station as well as the southeast Redmond stations.

The downtown station, located near the Redmond Town Center in the vicinity of 164th Avenue Northeast and 166th Avenue Northeast, was recommended to be elevated.

While this would cost around $45 million more than originally estimated, it is offset by cost reductions at the southwest Redmond center.

Elevating the downtown station means the light rail will not conflict with traffic, pedestrians or bicycles during its normal operation. In Seattle on street-level segments of the light rail route, the train must occasionally stop to facilitate traffic.

The letter also said this would allow greater potential for transit-oriented development around the station.

For the southeast Redmond station, which is planned to be constructed near the northeast corner of Marymoor Park, the letter requested that Sound Transit keep the trains at street-level, or at-grade, to better connect with trails in the area such as the East Lake Sammamish Trail.

Keeping this station at ground-level also saves the project between $110 million and $136 million, the letter said.

Members of the city council expressed support for the letter and the light rail expansion.

John Stilin said he thinks the light rail will prove to be a boon to the local economy and help the city develop.

“I think we’ve come to a great result,” he said.

Trains will begin service to stations at Overlake Village and the Redmond Technology Center in 2023, and the Southeast Redmond and Downtown Redmond stations are scheduled to open in 2024.

Once they begin service, residents from Redmond will be able to reach downtown Seattle and ride north and south along that corridor without dealing with traffic congestion.

Council member Hank Margeson said he also supports the light rail and expansions.

The idea to elevate the rail and downtown station, he said, was originally proposed by a group of high school students some years ago who came in on a “government day” to see how the city ran.

When they learned that due to a high water table, the tracks could not be placed in an underground tunnel, they suggested an elevated track.

“We are definitely following their suggestion to elevate the station,” he said.

Portions of the light rail infrastructure in Seattle are also elevated, with at least one station being fully elevated.

Additional expansions to the light rail system, including an extension out to Issaquah, were approved as part of the Sound Transit 3 package that passed in the November general election.

“The extension of light rail to Redmond will be a transformative investment that gives more people more options for getting around, puts Redmond and Eastside residents within easy reach of hundreds of thousands of jobs, and connects Redmond with the region,” the letter said.