MI City Council adopts Transportation Improvement Program

Published 8:30 am Monday, May 11, 2026

A slew of Mercer Island residents weighed in on the city’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) over the last few months and city councilmembers perused all the comments as they came onto their radar.

Adoption night arrived at the council’s regular meeting on May 5 as the seven-member group unanimously gave its nod to the 2027-2032 TIP. It will be submitted to the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Puget Sound Regional Council by July 1.

According to city documents, the TIP “is a planning tool used to identify specific projects that serve to maintain, preserve and maximize use of the existing roadway and pedestrian/bicycle facilities. It forecasts revenues and expenditures within the street fund over the six-year planning period.”

A Revised Code of Washington citation requires that cities formally adopt and submit a TIP annually. Here are the planned expenditures allocated over the six-year Mercer Island TIP period:

• 2027: $8,215,270

• 2028: $4,234,900

• 2029: $4,683,600

• 2030: $7,531,500

• 2031: $9,482,000

• 2032: $5,239,900

The expenditures are funded through a combination of fees, grants and taxes, according to the city.

Deputy Public Works Director Kellye Hilde said the city received 69 public comments during the comment period, including 37 submitted after the April 7 meeting during which the staff presented the draft TIP.

One resident’s request of a new crosswalk near the 5800 block of West Mercer Way — to better connect residents to nearby trails — will be evaluated through the Neighborhood Traffic Program, Pedestrian and Bicycles Facilities Plan and Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan.

“Based on this input and prior council discussions, no changes were made to the proposed TIP project list,” Hilde said.

Jim Stanton, a founder of Mercer Island’s Neighbors in Motion, gave his and the group’s support to the TIP during the public appearances portion of the meeting.

“We’re particularly in support of the shared use path along Island Crest Way. I think it’s worth noting that this is the 30th anniversary of that project being recognized by the city by the 1996 city bicycle pedestrian plan,” said Stanton, whose group focuses on safe bicycling and non-automotive transportation.

Hilde added that the city notched a network score of 78 in 2025 for overall roadway conditions as shown on a Pavement Condition Index map. This score — which improved three points from 2022 — reflects recent pavement investments and improved data collection methods.

E-MOTORCYCLE SAFETY REGULATIONS

During her report at the meeting, City Manager Jessi Bon said the city has received the distinguished honor of being asked to serve as the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) representative to the stakeholder group focused on a revised statutory framework for safety regulations for electric motorcycles.

Bon praised Mercer Island management analyst Amelia Tjaden, who has been assigned to represent AWC at the table.

“We have been leading the effort in the state to provide better regulations for e-motorcycles — also known as e-motos — and we were heavily engaged last year and this year in the Legislative session, doing a lot of work behind the scenes,” Bon said.

Following Bon’s report, Mayor Dave Rosenbaum added about the city’s involvement in the e-moto safety regulations: “I was at a city just to the east of us last night and someone went by on an e-moto and someone said, ‘Someone should do something about that.’ I said, ‘Yep.’”