Complex choices for I-90 – Sound Transit to select from 8 options for I-90 and Eastside transit plans next month
Published 4:51 pm Monday, November 24, 2008
By Ruth Longoria
There are myriad options for mass transit across Interstate 90. Though it looks like monorail is off the table — since the weight would probably sink the I-90 floating bridge and the floor of the Mount Baker Tunnel would have to be dug out four-feet to accommodate the height of the vehicles — no decision has been made yet.
Any of the options — light rail, monorail, rail-convertible bus rapid transit (BRT), express BRT, dedicated bus lanes or even tolls for high occupancy vehicles (HOT) — could be hybridized, Sound Transit representatives said during the May 2 City Council meeting.
Sound Transit is expected to know next month which mode of mass transportation will be offered to I-90 commuters, transit authorities said. Whatever is selected will determine future necessary roadway changes, as well as if transfer stations will be needed to move riders from one form of transit to another along their route.
The Sound Transit Board will adopt one of the eight options for building a High Capacity Transit (HCT) system across I-90 at its June 23 board meeting.
“This is the first step toward living out the latest chapter of I-90,” said Ric Ilgenfritz, chief communications officer for Sound Transit.
After that “first step” decision is made, and before work can begin, there’s the four-phase process known as R-8A.
R-8A is the $18.9 million plan previously selected and agreed upon last year by a committee of area representatives to allow for two HOV lanes to be added to I-90.
Work is set to begin next year on R-8A. It entails re-striping the current 12 feet wide lanes to 11 feet wide, which isn’t any narrower than the lanes on Interstate-5, and also won’t require any widening of the bridge pontoons. However, the narrowed lanes will add two additional outer lanes, one on each side of the interstate, which will be used as new HOV lanes.
When R-8A is completed, the center lanes would be freed up for possible bus, rail or monorail use. But, currently, there is only funding for Phase 1 of the project — a westbound HOV lane between Bellevue Way and 80th Avenue S.E. The as-yet unfunded Phase 2 would add a westbound HOV lane between 80th Avenue and Rainier Avenue. Phase 3 would add an eastbound HOV lane between Rainier Avenue and 77th Avenue S.E. And, Phase 4 would add an eastbound HOV lane between 77th Avenue and Bellevue Way.
The soon-to-be-selected Sound Transit transportation plan is expected to use the center lanes of I-90 — currently used as HOV lanes, which also are available to single occupant Island vehicles under an agreement made in 1976 — for either light rail, monorail or buses.
Those changes to the center lanes can’t begin until after all four phases of R-8A are completed, said Mayor Alan Merkle.
“Make no mistake about it, there will be two new HOV lanes in place before any other projects move forward,” Merkle said when Sound Transit representatives appeared to not understand his request for a declaration that Sound Transit was in agreement about Islanders’ rights as stated in the August 2004 amendment to the 1976 I-90 Memorandum Agreement.
After a few moments of confusion during the council meeting, and at Merkle’s prompting, Sound Transit representatives acknowledged those rights.
The amendment says that if Islanders lose the right to use the center HOV lanes for single occupant vehicles due to reconfiguring the lanes to handle bus or rail, additional transit facilities, bus services, designated parking areas for residents or other agreed upon compensation will be made to the Islanders.
Though the obvious choice might be to allow Island SOVs to use the new outer HOV lanes, it’s not necessarily that simple, Merkle said.
Since Sound Transit doesn’t own the interstate, the state Department of Transportation will decide if Island SOVs can use the HOV lanes. There’s also the problem with enforcing that alternative. Currently, there’s a barrier to the center lanes that can only be accessed on the Island. So, it becomes a technical issue, he said.
“Nobody has said we can’t and nobody has said we can (use future HOV lanes),” Merkle said. “It might work, but we’re not there yet.”
That’s why during its retreat least month the City Council authorized spending $100,000 to hire a lobbyist to make sure the city’s interests aren’t neglected in future I-90 negotiations.
“If we lose the center lanes there will be compensation,” Merkle said.
Islanders will have the chance to see and hear more about Sound Transit’s plans during an Open House scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m., June 9 at the Mercer Island High School Commons. In addition to poster-style display boards, there will be an opportunity to offer opinions and ideas about plans for I-90 through filling out suggestion cards available at the event.
Merkle said he hopes many Islanders attend Sound Transit’s Open House.
“It would be good for people to show up and give their input,” he said. “That’s a good way people can gain a better understanding of Sound Transit plans for I-90 and have it all make sense.”
But, no matter how much more sense the project begins to make, even Sound Transit authorities can’t say when work on I-90 will be completed.
“It may never be done,” said Lee Somerstein, Sound Transit media relations representative. “Transit evolves as a region grows. Our numbers for growth are estimates and that changes. As it looks now, we may be looking out to 2030 or even 2060. We’re not going to get all the way to Everett or Tacoma by 2020.”
