After stalled negotiations with Sound Transit and Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), the Mercer Island City Council decided to allocate $100,000 for consultants to help the city work through transportation issues with the two agencies, mainly revolving around the “loss of mobility” Islanders will experience when the center of I-90 is converted from express lanes to East Link light rail track.
Mercer Island will hire transportation firm Fehr & Peers along with the same consultant, Tony Williams from Washington2Advocates, who helped the city of Bellevue to amend its Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Sound Transit and resolve construction, financial and land use issues.
During a study session with Sound Transit and WSDOT representatives before the Council’s regular meeting on Sept. 8, councilmembers expressed frustration that time to negotiate on mitigation for loss of mobility is running out, as the I-90 center lanes will close in 2017.
WSDOT is currently working on Phase 3 of its two-way transit, or R8A, program that will add HOV/express lanes to the outside of I-90. The Council said it wanted to assure that Islanders have the same meaningful access to those new HOV lanes that they had to the center lanes.
The concept of mitigation for “loss of mobility” comes from a 2004 amendment to a 1976 memorandum allowing single occupant access for Islanders to the express lanes going back and forth from Mercer Island to Seattle.
John White of WSDOT suggested a meeting “early next year” reconvening the parties from the 1976 memorandum – the city of Seattle, city of Mercer Island, city of Bellevue, King County and the Washington State Highway Commission.
The Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (or Sound Transit) was party to the 2004 amendment, which stated that “additional bus service, parking available for Mercer Island residents, and other measures shall be identified and satisfactorily addressed” before the center lane closure.
Former City Manager Rich Conrad had previously negotiated a $6.3 million mitigation amount, but that number is now off the table since Sound Transit is taking a step back to hear Islanders’ concerns and “drill down to why” those concerns exist by embarking on an “issue identification” process and listening tour, which should conclude in October.
Deputy Mayor Dan Grausz and Mayor Bruce Bassett said that meeting in 2016 would be too late, and they wanted to hear some ideas for mitigating loss of mobility at the end of next month.
There are many issues: there will be 25 more weekend directional closures as work on R8A inside the Mount Baker and Mercer Island tunnels continues. Islanders worry about the traffic impacts of a proposed bus turnaround on the 80th Avenue S.E. overpass. They want to find a solution for Islander-only commuter parking. And they don’t want to see more “cut-through” traffic from non-residents.
Councilmembers hope the “issue identification” doesn’t turn out to be a pointless exercise for residents and the agencies involved.
“We [the Council] can identify issues. What we need are some answers, and soon,” said Councilmember Jane Brahm.
The city has been trying for a while to get a meeting with WSDOT and Sound Transit, Treat said. The consultants should bring more leverage and expertise to planned negotiations.
“They certainly have the guns, and we’ll need some also,” said Councilmember Mike Cero.
The $100,000 will come from projected 2015 surplus sales tax revenues. Finance Director Chip Corder had recommended taking the money from the city’s contingency fund, which was tapped for the fight against I-90 tolling, but the Council decided to save that fund in case of an emergency.
Amid other issues, Islanders have recently raised concerns about the technical challenges that accompany running light rail across a floating bridge, which has never been done before.
Those concerns prompted the study session, at which Sound Transit representatives said they have done tests in Colorado and at the University of Washington to work through engineering challenges, and that the systems they’ve come up with – plinths to bind the rails to the bridge and straight current solutions that won’t rust the structures – are stronger than they need to be.
Cero asked about outstanding technical issues. According to a recent report, there are 23 technical issues that remain to be addressed. Sound Transit has solved 15 of them, mainly having to do with straight current and rider comfort, and have reports on four or five more into WSDOT. Some won’t be completely resolved until after the 90 percent design phase, such as how the agency plans to deal with long-term operations and maintenance.
For more information, contact City Manager Noel Treat at 206-275-7660 or visit the City’s webpage addressing center roadway issues.
Listening Tour:
Public meeting – 5 p.m Sept. 24 at Community Center
Drop in sessions – 4-6 p.m., Sept. 30 at Stroum Jewish Community Center
10 a.m. – noon, Oct. 1 at Tully’s
7-9 a.m., Oct. 5 at Starbucks (8415 S.E. 68th Street)
Website – live on Sept. 14
Online survey – live on Sept. 24
Presentation to Sound Transit Board – Oct. 22
