City representatives tour Mercer Island Station

Come the spring of 2025, the Mercer Island Station is anticipated to be operationalized as one of the segments of the 14-mile East Link Extension Project.

At high noon on May 1, a quartet of Sound Transit employees welcomed the Reporter and several city of Mercer Island representatives to tour the light rail station and get a glimpse into what riders will experience amidst their travels.

Donning hard hats, glasses, gloves and orange vests, the tour attendees stepped through the front gate at the 77th Avenue Southeast entrance, soon descended a 27-foot staircase to the rail platform, up the same level of stairs to the 80th Avenue Southeast entrance and back again while learning about the station during the 40-minute visit.

Since the station has been standing since early 2021, some parts are covered in dust as one crew completed punch-list items like touch-up paint and other cleanup work or corrections, and another crew focused its duties on getting the tracks ready to roll on come opening day.

Sound Transit plans to receive a certificate of occupancy by this spring or early summer, according to Jon Lebo, executive project director of East Link. The total East Link budget is $3.68 billion.

Due to issues that arose last year with the cast-in-place concrete plinths that support the tracks, the original projected East Link opening of mid-2023 was delayed. The construction challenges have also caused delays in the opening of the Lynnwood, Federal Way and Downtown Redmond Link Extension routes.

“The issue had to do with defects within the construction of the concrete plinths themselves. It’s affected only the concrete sections. We also have what’s called ballast track and that is not affected,” said Lebo, who noted that Sound Transit is looking into possibly opening an East Link starter line from the South Bellevue Station to the Redmond Technology Station with a decision coming in the fall.

On the tour of the Mercer Island Station, which is one of 10 sites that comprise East Link, Sound Transit construction engineer Liz Kane explained that there will be bike racks and lockers on the upper levels where riders will purchase tickets and use their ORCA cards before heading down to the platform. The station also includes a pair of staircases, escalators and elevators, ADA wayfinding tile, security cameras, Islander-created art installations, architecture reminiscent of the Island’s early days and more. The platform level distance between the two main entries is 380 linear feet.

The station, which is anticipated to be open from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m., has a platform capacity of 500 people and an additional entrance from the nearby Mountains to Sound Greenway Trail. There are no public restrooms at the site.

Kane added that the Mercer Island Fire Department has made a run-through of the station and will return for another one close to opening day.

“The design process for me has been eye opening. You would drive by and go, ‘There is the station,’ but it takes so much design expertise to get a station in a very small area,” said Kane, adding that along with the city of Mercer Island and its fire department, the building process has involved the city of Seattle and its fire agency, Washington State Department of Transportation and multiple utilities and designers.

“The collaborative process has been amazing to me — and then, here we are,” Kane added.

Lebo was all smiles when discussing his affinity for designing and building and watching everybody utilize the stations. There have been some challenges along with the excitement that comes with the job, he said.

“These large infrastructure projects are really transformative when you think about the opportunities for transportation, to be able to move people to work, recreation and wherever they need to go. It has quite an impact on the whole region for a long time to come,” he said.

As Mercer Island City Councilmember Wendy Weiker glanced around the station while participating in the tour, she matched Lebo’s elation level.

“It’s been years in the making. It’s great to see it come together and I’m sure we’ll figure it all out with bikes, pedestrians, cars, people being dropped off, people integrating to get to work and play and home,” said Weiker, adding that the city is collaborating with Sound Transit and regional partners on last-mile solutions since the Park and Ride is likely to be packed by 6:45 a.m.

“So lots of moving parts and excitement in the years to come,” she said, noting that the Chamber of Commerce members will play an integral role in helping revitalize the downtown core coming out of COVID.

CITY, SOUND TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP

Mercer Island City Manager Jessi Bon touched upon the partnership between the city and Sound Transit as the East Link Extension Project continues.

“The city of Mercer Island works closely with partner agencies like Sound Transit to help provide quality transportation options to not only Mercer Island residents, businesses, and visitors, but to the region as a whole. When it comes to public transit, the city enjoys a good working partnership with Sound Transit as they work to provide safe, stable, and sustainable transportation to residents across our region,” Bon said.

According to a Reporter article in December of 2022, the Mercer Island City Council unanimously approved a new agreement between the city and Sound Transit to cease litigation connected with the Mercer Island Transit Integration project regarding increased vehicle and pedestrian infrastructure needs caused by East Link and King County Metro station use.

A joint statement from the city and Sound Transit at the time read, “This is after several years of legal dispute. The agreement allows both agencies to avoid costly ongoing legal proceedings, including a trial set for early next year.”

The new agreement states that the city will pay Sound Transit $2.1 million over two years, according to city documents. In an earlier settlement, Sound Transit agreed to reimburse the city for $10,050,000 in infrastructure projects and improvements, and those terms hold.

Lebo noted about the dropped lawsuit and the partnership: “When we work with cities, there are always issues that we have to address, but I think we’ve always had good partnership with our cities, including Mercer Island. We’ve had some challenges and differences, but we’ve worked all through those. It’s not unusual on projects of this size to have some different perspectives of what to do.”

For more information, visit https://letstalk.mercergov.org/Transit-Interchange.