What happened to our seat at the I-90 table? – Island Forum

Published 7:23 pm Monday, November 24, 2008

By Lisa Belden

Last August, a City Council majority (Alan Merkle, Dan Grausz, Jim Pearman, Bryan Cairns and El Jahncke) traded away access to I-90’s HOV lanes for thousands of Mercer Islanders who drive solo (SOVs), in favor of an unstudied deployment of high-capacity transit (HCT) in the center lanes. A 1976 agreement had given Mercer Island SOVs the right to use the center lanes and veto power over changes in I-90 bridge operation/configuration.

Mayor Merkle et. al. justified surrendering our access and veto with two claims. First, HCT would “not happen in our lifetimes,” so Mercer Island solo drivers could continue to use the center lanes for decades until HCT was deployed kicking us out.

Second, Merkle claimed that by giving up our access and veto, we would get a seat at the I-90 table. According to Merkle, Mercer Island could use this “seat” to get what he and the Council had failed to get specifically before surrendering our access and veto.

Since August, there have been several major developments. Sound Transit has revealed detailed, accelerated plans for HCT in the I-90 corridor and moved to eliminate Mercer Island’s influence on I-90 planning.

Not in our lifetime?

Within weeks of the City Council’s capitulation, Sound Transit announced accelerated plans for HCT in the I-90 corridor, including a possible funding vote in 2006. Last month, Sound Transit issued its Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on its Regional Transit Long-Range Plan (DSEIS), revealing an aggressive schedule for HCT in the I-90 center lanes, with adoption of the plan by the Sound Transit Board this summer and possibly a funding vote in 2006.

Sound Transit’s DSEIS (Appendix O) concludes that the I-90 corridor between Seattle and Bellevue has “the greatest potential for near-term implementation of HCT,” and that it is the “ripest of all corridors for immediate HCT development.”

Sound Transit’s DSEIS (Appendix N) also shows how Mercer Island solo drivers can be kicked out of the I-90 center lanes before Sound Transit obtains light rail funding. The DSEIS defines

HCT as light rail or bus rapid transit (BRT). Sound Transit could deploy BRT in the center lanes, kick Mercer Island traffic out, and then obtain light rail funding in the future.

A smaller seat at a larger table

Sound Transit abolished the I-90 Steering Committee. There, Mercer Island was one of three cities along with regional agencies such as King County. Mercer Island had a veto on this committee!

Sound Transit has substituted the Eastside Transportation Partnership (ETP) to handle I-90 issues. On ETP, Mercer Island is one of a dozen cities. We have no veto, and our voting power is diluted.

Mercer Island does not have a representative on the Sound Transit Board.

The council’s action snuffed out the Island’s political power over this crucial issue. We are now just a community of 22,000 people without a veto or power to protect our Island from getting rolled by the much larger populations of Seattle and the Eastside. Before the City Council surrendered Mercer Island’s access and veto, many meetings concerning I-90 occurred on the Island. Our vote had clout. Out of the 10 meetings that Sound Transit is conducting on its long-range plan, we don’t even rate one.

What did they know and when did they know it?

While Mayor Merkle was assuring us that HCT would not happen in our lifetime, and Councilmember Dan Grausz was writing HCT was only “speculation” and “a dream,” Sound Transit was finalizing de plans to deploy HCT in the I-90 center lanes. Is it possible that the Mayor and Grausz were unaware of Sound Transit’s plans?

In November 2003, Grausz proposed to the City Council the sending of a letter which would clearly state the City of Mercer Island’s position regarding I-90 operations: “[I]n order to achieve high-capacity transit, we are prepared to give up the rights afforded Mercer Island in the 1976 agreement which have enabled persons to access the HOV lanes going to and from the Island.”

We need to elect new leadership. Councilmembers Merkle, Grausz and Pearman’s positions are up for election this November.

Lisa Belden chairs the saveMIsov effort.