Island business owners, residents share their thoughts on light rail

Published 5:30 pm Thursday, March 5, 2026

As Rick Haney strolled along 77th Avenue Southeast on a recent afternoon, the new Mercer Island Light Rail Station sat empty to his left. The facility was looking very lonely and needing a crowd of people to bring it to life.

It’s been that way for a while now, but all that will change on March 28 when Sound Transit trains will begin running through the Island on the 2 Line.

To mark that momentous occasion, the Mercer Island Chamber of Commerce will present a grand-opening day celebration from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the park and ride across the street from the station.

“I’m glad it’s opening. Lots of things have changed here over the years for my wife and I. And it’s kind of exciting to be able to take the light rail and go downtown instead of a bus,” said Haney, who has lived on the Island since 1972. “I’m going out (to) Pike Place Market or someplace. I don’t like driving down there anymore, so it’s going to be nice to be able to get on something and get off and walk to where I want to go.”

According to a previous Reporter article, Sound Transit’s Crosslake Connection will link Seattle and Bellevue/Redmond via Mercer Island with trains zipping across the Interstate 90 floating bridge.

Some changes that Haney has experienced over 50-plus years are more buildings, residents and people parking their cars around the Town Center area. There have been some concerns about parking when the light rail comes to town, but Haney said his nearby street in off limits to car-parkers.

MercyVet founder Jacqueline Sehn, whose business is located on 77th Avenue Southeast in Town Center, and her staff are proud that the city is helping bring the light rail to the Island. Her business is situated just up the way from the station, which is also bordered by 80th Avenue Southeast.

“I think it’s awesome. I think my staff, for example, it’s harder and harder to find staff that can live close by because the prices are just so expensive for working people. So, the fact that they have an ability to get here without having to go into the highway and be stuck in traffic (is beneficial). They can maybe multitask on the train, read something, relax,” Sehn said.

Sehn said she’s a little concerned with off-Islanders parking their cars in local garages and taking trains to Seattle, adding that she and her staff will put up with the situation and they’re happy that progress is coming to the Island with the light rail.

Over at Clarke & Clarke Art + Artifacts in the Boyd Building on Southeast 27th Street, Ginny Clarke said it will be a wait-and-see situation for her regarding the arrival of light rail.

In the business realm, Clarke rolled out her thoughts: “I think it will be good right away for restaurants. And I think then as people have time and plan their excursions and their travel time and their layovers and stopovers, then they’ll begin to investigate the community. If we make things accessible. Lots of venues plan to have resources and brochures ready and supplied to the stop to entice people onto the business center, community center, Town Center.”

With the Greta Hackett Outdoor Sculpture Gallery located parallel to the light rail station, Clarke feels that people can check out the art along with other amenities.

Also on Southeast 27th Street in the Boyd Building, Barrels Wine Bar owner Joshua Wojcik said he’s a little undetermined if light rail will bring people on Island or take them away, “but overall I think mobility is definitely a good thing.”

Although he’s retired, Islander Jim Eanes works at Barrels and was in the business chatting with Wojcik on a recent afternoon.

Eanes had his own take on how light rail could benefit the Island: “The key is not bringing people from off island. The key is bringing people on Island to the Town Center (to take trains). So it may work in reverse of what people are thinking, and the gold mine might be all of a sudden our own residents say, ‘OK, now we have a reason to go to Town Center.’”

The city projects that thousands of people will attend the free “Together at the Center” grand-opening event, which will feature vendor booths comprised of local nonprofits, businesses and community groups, food trucks, a kids zone and stage performances by Creation Dance Studio, Simon Okela and One Vibe Band and more.

“The chamber is excited for the light rail to be opening. It provides a new means of accessibility to the Island for people, and potential customers for our Town Center,” said Jen Dean, chief executive officer of the Mercer Island Chamber of Commerce. “The chamber is working with two marketing companies to amplify marketing for Town Center businesses leading up to the event, as well as after the event to let riders know what gems we have on Mercer Island.”