Buses and parking at Community Center – a no win situation

At the Open Meeting on Nov. 19, Sound Transit presented a poster that was labeled “Mercer Island Commuter Parking Study.”

This was a site location study, and not a Parking Needs Study. After the Council Meeting on Dec. 1, there is still no Needs Study in process. I know there is a need for parking in the Town Center to serve the merchants. What has been done to determine the causes? Is it Mercer Island commuters, off-Island commuters to Seattle, local apartment dwellers not willing to pay for parking or off-Island employees? There may be other causes. Without knowing the causes, the problem cannot be solved.

The problem with doing a proper search for the parking problem causes is that it does not fit into Sound Transits Plans. They need the additional parking to take care of the Bellevue Park and Ride cars while that area is being shut down for four to five years for a new parking garage and Bus Terminal. A suggestion at the Council Meeting to build a parking garage south of McDonald’s makes excellent sense and should be pursued with the property owner.

This is a no win situation. We get parking that will not solve the downtown parking problem, will allow Sound Transit to establish a Bus Terminal on the Island and we get reduced bus service on the Island. Send the buses to Bellevue and the cars will follow to avoid the I-90 congestion, without destroying the Town Center and the neighborhood. The 80th Avenue overpass will become a nightmare for pedestrians, cars and buses during commuting hours.

A plan to split the parking area on the MICEC will require policing and management of the space. It is already being used by commuters. The additional parking will require special water run off control; uses “Green Space,” will increase traffic for the next four years at a minimum and will not solve the downtown parking problem.

When asked why Bellevue cannot serve as bus terminal we get comments like: “they want to share the volume with Mercer Island.” “Bellevue will take care of the I-405 buses” (There should only be buses coming north and how many can that be?). “It is a straight shot to the Island from the East and it is faster” (it is 1.5 miles shorter and avoids the back up on Mercer Island during the rush hours). “Buses do not want to crossover the lanes to leave the HOV to use Bellevue Way” (But it is OK to crossover the lanes to get to the HOV lanes). I have never heard some much sophistry as I have from Sound Transit. They have their plan in place. We can change the color of the stacks on the terminal, but nothing else. If they can fit the 10 buses on the Island in just over 300 feet, then there should be no problem adding them to the Bellevue Plan. There is a benefit for riders of Metro to go to Bellevue. Bellevue should be a faster trip to and from Seattle on the Light Rail.

Sound Transit is planning on spending at least $8 million on the Bus Terminal and $6 million on additional parking on Mercer Island. Use that money to improve the Bellevue Park and Ride and the one half mile road from I-90. What has happened to the $6 million due from Sound Transit which was to be mitigation for the loss of the HOV lanes?

John Scherzo

Hope for restoring transit on the Island

There is now a glimmer of hope for public transit on Mercer Island. It’s said that it’s always darkest before the dawn and a few months ago, the future of our public transit was dark. Previous City administrations had ceded the express lanes to Sound Transit without a serious objection or any significant concessions. Anticipating the damage that the East Link Light Rail would do to I-90 traffic flow, Metro declared that it no longer wanted to drive buses across the floating bridge. In addition, Metro announced that it was going to cancel the important Mercer Island bus routes to Seattle, Pill Hill and the UW, leaving Island bus patrons discouraged at best.

I think it was Mike Cero who said at a City Council meeting that adverse times create new opportunities and that’s exactly what is happening now. Led by Mayor Bruce Bassett, the city is rising to the occasion and is now an advocate for Islanders who want to restore and use public transit targeted specifically for Mercer Island. In the past four weeks, the city has sponsored two meetings with the objective of identifying solutions to our two most pressing public transit problems, Park and Ride inadequacy, and the restoration of Mercer Island to Seattle service. The city’s approach is to capture some of Metro’s and Sound Transit’s resources (which we pay for whether we get service or not) and focus those resources to uniquely “Island specific” transit solutions.

The city has not been motivated to tackle the issue of public transit for a number of decades. But, transit advocate is a perfect role for the City government. The city understands the transit needs of Islanders better than the county and the when city speaks, it is much more difficult for the county to ignore. Public transit advocacy is not a new role for the city but it is one that has been ignored for a few decades. It is important to remember that the creation of the Metro 205 route, the route that carried two generations of Island students to the UW, was in part a creation of the Mercer Island Mayor and City Council in the 1970s.

Right now, a number of ideas to enhance public transit here are being considered by the city, transit patrons and the general public, but the final product is still a work in progress.

To solve the Park and Ride inadequacy, Sound Transit offered to build another structure next to the MICEC which would be exclusively used by Islanders after the first three years. This concept proved to be unpopular with some Islanders and so appears to be shelved. Realistically there may never be a solution for the inadequacy as of the Park and Ride. Adding more parking near the Park and Ride is really a solution for Seattle’s traffic problems, not Mercer Island’s.

That is, commuters who use the Park and Ride are still contributing to the traffic on Mercer Island. What the Island needs are public transit solutions that reduce traffic on Mercer Island and allow Mercer Island commuters to leave their cars in the garage.

Restoration of Mercer Island’s canceled bus routes to Seattle will reduce traffic on Mercer Island and don’t require construction of parking structures. I ask Islanders to support the Mayor and the City Council in their effort to restore our bus service to downtown Seattle, Pill Hill and the UW.

Please remember that the main objective is to steer Sound Transit and Metro to use their resources to solve Mercer Island’s public transit problems. We pay and they should have to deliver, but the chances are that they won’t unless we demand it and tell them how to do it. Having the Mayor and the City Council lobby Metro and Sound Transit on our behalf is the best thing that could have come out of the transit crisis. Mike was correct, challenging times do create new opportunities!

Clark Powell

Cartoon is ‘inflammatory’

When growing up, we would use the phrase “Happy Holidays” in lieu of “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” But recently, the phrase has become a minefield and might get a hostile response. A small, vocal group claims that any expression that does not include the word “Christ” for the winter holidays is an anti-Christian statement, and that nefarious forces have proclaimed a war on Christmas. Your editorial cartoon of Dec. 10 reflects that combative sentiment. At best, it is disappointing; at worst, it is inflammatory.

Most scholars now agree that Jesus was born several months previous to Dec. 25, but for various reasons it was chosen as the date to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Secular traditions we’ve created such as Santa, decorated trees, candy, bells, etc. have been included in that celebration, but they do not dilute it, and I suspect that acknowledging other faiths and celebrations exist will not remove Christ from “Christmas.”

Susan Kaltenbach