As the city of Mercer Island plans projects in its Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) over the next six years, concerns about pedestrian safety and vehicle circulation around the new Northwood Elementary have been at the forefront of the discussion.

Northwood opens this fall at the corner of Southeast 40th Street and 86th Avenue Southeast, where problems with the intersection’s already-difficult sight lines and heavy traffic will be exacerbated by the addition of 150 to 200 kids walking to school, according to concerned parents and school officials.

With the addition of two new projects — the elementary school construction and high school addition — the main user groups in the area will be younger kids and newer drivers.

The Mercer Island City Council received 63 public comments on the draft TIP, many of which emphasized the importance of sidewalks, paths and bicycle facilities, with 15 requests to fund, design and implement a left turn lane at the busy intersection near Northwood.

The project, which the council decided to fund in phases, would first add a westbound left turn lane with protected signal phasing at a price of $50,000 to $75,000. Then, the city will monitor traffic impacts, as the expected problematic backups will be between 86th Avenue Southeast to Island Crest Way, and decide whether or not to spend more money and acquire right of way from Holy Trinity Luther Church to widen the intersection.

In deciding how to address the issues with the intersection, the city and its consultant, KPG, looked at several categories: pedestrian safety, vehicle safety, intersection delay, vehicle queuing, project cost and neighborhood impact.

“While this scaled-back proposal will solve the child safety issues, it may have traffic consequences that could ultimately force the council at a later time to consider the more expensive option (which involves buying or condemning property on the north side of the Lutheran Church),” Council member Dan Grausz wrote in an email update.

The recommended alternative would not require road widening, and could be constructed at a modest cost, requiring only lane restriping, new signal heads and revised vehicle detection, according to the council’s agenda bill.

“[Consultant] KPG recommends constructing the left turn lanes alternative this summer to be completed by the opening of the new elementary school, and selecting with the widening intersection alternative as the long-term solution,” the bill continues.

The school district also has a role in the management of pedestrian crossings and traffic flows during the school arrival and departure times, and will place crossing guards on Southeast 40th Street at the 86th Avenue Southeast and 88th Avenue Southeast intersections.

It will also provide active management of the elementary school drop-off/pick-up loop to provide safety for kids and to maximize traffic operations on 86th Avenue Southeast, and work with the PTA and parents to encourage opportunities for kids to walk to school, such as “walking school bus” programs, in which PTA volunteers will be stationed throughout the neighborhood and will provide parents with a resource to help students understand what the safe routes are, where to cross streets and to help parents and students to feel secure in their choice to walk.

The TIPs adopted in 2014 and 2015 included six projects to support the schools and residents in the neighborhoods north and south of Southeast 40th Street. Five are pedestrian facilities/Safe Routes to School projects and will be completed by the end of summer 2016, including a sidewalk along 86th Avenue Southeast from Southeast 39th Street to Southeast 40th Street (currently under construction) and additional walking areas from Southeast 36th Street to Southeast 39th Street, gravel trails on 88th Avenue Southeast, Southeast 43rd Street, 84th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 42nd Street.

The proposed 2017-2022 TIP is forecast to go negative starting in 2020 by close to $400,000 and is forecast to be negative by close to $740,000 by 2022. The TIP includes a funding mix which includes Real Estate Excise Tax (REET), motor vehicle fuel tax, vehicle license fees, transportation impact fees and grants.

The comment period on the TIP will run until July 5, as the council decided to extend the public hearing past its June 6 meeting.