Opposition to Transportation Improvement Plan SP123

Photo courtesy to Mercer Island City

The 6 year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) includes SP123, “North Mercer Way Park and Ride Frontage Improvements” and is presented to the City Council in AB 5691 for approval. The justification for this plan is:

“…widening the I-90 to Sound trail to meet current standards for a multi-use facility, provide a mixing zone at 80th Ave SE crossing, improving sight lines at the western driveway access, relocating street lighting, and a new landscape area to match existing landscape. This project is planned for construction after the East Link Station is open and bus drop off/pick up is no longer needed at the north side of the road.”

I strongly oppose SP123 for the following reasons:

1. It is too expensive. It is the largest TIP at $1,284,107, which is 70% of all REET projected for 2024 ($1,833,300).

2. It is very low priority. It cannot be considered either mandatory or necessary. REET can alternately be used for the General Fund (up to 25% per RCW 82.46.015(1) and RCW 82.46.037, permanent provisions passed in 2015), or to accelerate more important Capital Improvement Plans, such as replacement of about 200 undersized and deteriorated water main projects, important tasks for improved drinking water quality.

3. It is a detriment to pedestrian safety. Mixing bicycle traffic with pedestrians and wheel chairs is adverse to pedestrian safety. Bicyclists should be required to dismount south of the parking garage.

4. It is redundant, with no significant benefits. The Mercer Island in Motion map provided by King County Metro shows a nearby bike trail that traverses westerly along North Mercer Way, then north on 84th Ave SE, then west on SE 24th St. (beside MICEC and the north side of the parking garage), then westerly along North Mercer Way, a trail that has significantly less pedestrian conflicts.

5. It precludes better solutions for Mercer Islanders and bus riders from the east and southeast. Mercer Islanders and eastside bus commuters are better served when busses arriving from the east continue on to Seattle, either without stopping on Mercer Island, or by using the existing bus bay without forced transfer to light rail. The roundabout is certain to cause major traffic jams on North Mercer Way and trip delays. The bus bay on the north side of NMW should at least be retained for local transportation, such as private car drop offs, Uber, Lyft, taxis and local buses. Layovers/idling should be prohibited.

6. Forced bus transfers are not customer friendly. The thought of driving to a P&R lot, taking a grueling bus ride, taking 5-10 minutes to transfer in the rain, followed by standing up in a packed light rail for the final leg to Seattle will be an incentive to drive to Mercer Island and try to park there, or to not use public transportation at all. Businesses that do not operate in the best interests of their customers are doomed to fail.

7. It causes increased indirect costs. The large number of pedestrians from enabled forced bus-light rail transfers will result in increased police, fire/aide and park/cleanup personnel, construction of restrooms, and other TIPs for traffic signals, signal coordination, signage, crosswalks, pavement markings, and traffic calming. Any agreement or building permit should contain full impact fees.

8. It is ill defined. Physical layouts either do not exist or are inconsistent. Cost breakdown data are not provided. The environmental impact statement is badly out of date/incomplete.

It should not be assumed that the bus turnaround and transfer is a done deal. They can easily undo any construction performed to thwart Sound Transit/Metro without strong legal protection. The best solution is a strong legal agreement that prohibits forced transfers, turnarounds, and layovers/idling.

It is quite possible that SP123 is just a placeholder, but it still conveys acceptance of the forced bus-light rail transfer and turnaround. Sound Transit will be emboldened to push for bus layovers in exchange for some token payment. This proposal should be turned down and another placeholder should be developed.

Counting the Buses: Opposition to SP123

There are 5 regularly scheduled Metro/Sound Transit bus routes that currently stop at the Mercer Island P&R on the north side of North Mercer Way (NMW). The number (before coronavirus reduction) of westbound morning stops:

#204 local Mercer Island only, embark/disembark on N. or S. side NMW

#216 from Redmond, Sammamish, Issaquah to Seattle 6

#550 from Bellevue P&R 39

#554 from Eastgate P&R 15

#630 joint Metro & Mercer Island 25 (likely all pickup at P&R)

Total 85

There are at least 4 regularly scheduled bus routes from the Eastside to Seattle via I-90 that don’t stop on Mercer Island. The number of morning buses:

#114 Newcastle to Seattle 8

#212 Eastgate P&R to Seattle 27

#218 Issaquah via Eastgate P&R to Seattle 19

#219 Redmond via Eastgate P&R to Seattle 6

Total 60

It is understood that upon activation of Eastside light rail, #550 will be eliminated as redundant and #554 will be routed to Bellevue P&R, as it is generating traffic from Bellevue; the a.m. Mercer Island westbound bus stops would be reduced to 45, most of which originates from Mercer Island. This quantity is manageable for north side bus stops and is less than current level. It would be a disservice to Islanders to preclude #630 stops on the north side of NMW. Metro #216 services all passengers for Mercer Island from Eastgate P&R, though not exclusively.

Metro would like to force all buses currently not stopping on Mercer Island to disembark on Mercer Island and transfer to light rail raising the number of westbound morning stops to 105, far beyond the current level. The issue is really the number of passengers transferring. This is a disservice to the passengers on those buses, as well as to Mercer Island, and the benefit to Metro is small if at all. There are alternatives for the routes from Eastgate P&R:

1. Reroute some or all of these buses to Redmond to catch light rail there and don’t go to Eastgate P&R—eliminates need for a roundabout.

2. Let these buses continue on to Seattle, as they currently do—eliminates need for a roundabout.

3. Have the passengers transfer to Metro #216 at the Eastgate P&R, let #216 continue to Seattle—eliminates need for a roundabout

4. Reroute these buses to Bellevue P&R to catch light rail. The time to fight through the backups caused by these buses and the roundabout likely exceeds the time saving from not going to Bellevue P&R. The time saved for the passengers is even greater, considering the extra time to walk to the light rail and wait for the next train—eliminates need for a roundabout.

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