City facilities to close for holidays
As usual, city facilities will close in observance of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. However, since both holidays land on Sundays this year, city facilities will actually be closed on Monday, Dec. 26, and Monday, Jan. 2.
The Community and Event Center (MICEC) is also closed from Dec. 19-26, and has other reduced hours during the holiday period. See www.mercergov.org/page.asp?navid=1504 for more.
The Mercer Island Chamber of Commerce office will also be closed from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2.
The Mercer Island Library will be closed Dec. 24, Dec. 25 and Jan. 1.
Mercer Island gives tips to avoid school zone traffic
Recently, some residents have been caught up in weekday traffic slowdowns related to drop-offs near various Mercer Island schools, especially the elementaries.
The Mercer Island Police Department (MIPD) often performs traffic enforcement in school zones to ensure that speed limits are followed and that conditions are as safe as possible for arriving children. Other city staff work closely with the Mercer Island School District (MISD) to support traffic safety on the Island and around the schools through engineering and education.
In order to help drivers who wish to avoid school-related congestion, the MIPD and the MISD have provided the following tips to inform route choices:
– All MISD elementary schools start at 9:15 a.m. and release at 3:45 p.m., and nearby traffic impacts are typically most prevalent 15 minutes prior to both the start time and the end time.
– Traffic near Island Park Elementary has deceased this year with the opening of the new Northwood Elementary: in 2016-17 only five school buses deliver students to the school, versus eight to 10 previously.
– Foul weather (heavy rain, wind, etc.) notably increases traffic volume around the elementary schools because parents will drive their children to school instead of having them walk, bike or wait at the bus stop — school bus ridership goes down on foul weather days.
Since the city and school district jointly launched the new school bus safety program on Aug. 31, onboard camera systems have led to 24 citations for passing the bus when the stop arm is deployed. Each convicted violator is fined $394, 75 percent of which is sent to MISD for school zone traffic safety programs.
Island preps for impacts of winter weather
So far, Mercer Island has avoided any real impacts from the winter weather that’s been hitting the region, but there is still a chance for slush and snow. Check the latest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association forecast at http://forecast.weather.gov/.
When warranted by the weather forecast, city crews head out and pre-treat known problem areas with liquid de-icer to prevent dangerous conditions. In snow cycles, city plow trucks clear and sand arterials, critical intersections and major access routes on and off the Island, followed by secondary and residential streets. The city advises all drivers to be cautious and be ready for slow commutes.
Learn more about the city’s snowplowing and de-icing protocols at www.mercergov.org/Snowplow.
As a means of promoting driver safety, a few weeks ago the city installed new freeze-warning signs that are triggered by low temperatures. When the reflector dial turns blue, icy conditions are likely.
Crews selected test locations that typically freeze first, and may catch people by surprise. These are the bridge at Northeast 22nd Street and 72nd Avenue Southeast, the 4900-5300 blocks of West Mercer Way, 76th Avenue Southeast and North Mercer Way in Town Center and in front of the Park and Ride along North Mercer Way.
City finds new source of scrap metal
The city’s Parks Maintenance and Public Works departments recently found another way to lessen their environmental impacts from necessary work projects.
The departments must use a number of aerosol cans for daily projects. Many of these contain non-hazardous substances, such as marking paint, and can therefore be recycled commercially if properly handled and prepared. After some extensive research on the best solution, the city acquired an industrial device to safely evacuate aerosol cans, and arranged for its commercial recycling hauler to accept this new source of valuable scrap metal.
Over the past three months, the pilot program has been successful and processed many hundreds of used aerosols, in keeping with the city’s ongoing efforts to green up all aspects of daily operations.
Learn more about other city sustainability programs at www.mercergov.org/Page.asp?NavID=2290.
