Mercer Island engineer Patrick Yamashita said the city has been planning for the arrival of Sound Transit’s light rail to the area for copious years. The station, which is situated across from the park and ride, is set and waiting for the remainder of East Link to roll into town sometime this year.

A host of projects in the nearby Town Center area have either been completed or are in progress in the crosswalk, sidewalk construction, ADA-accessible curb ramps, street lighting, traffic signal and parking realms.

“We’ve focused our efforts primarily on improvements to help pedestrians get to and from the light rail station safely and more efficiently throughout the Town Center,” Yamashita said.

In a quick rewind of past projects, Yamashita said that crews installed a mid-block marked crosswalk near the Aljoya retirement community on 76th Avenue Southeast with a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) that alerts drivers to crossing pedestrians, and they installed two more RRFBs on 77th Avenue Southeast and Sunset Highway, raised the intersection and added wheelchair ramps and landings on the corners.

“The purpose of raising the intersection is to slow down or calm traffic,” Yamashita said. “Because this is close to the light rail station entrance, there is going to be a lot of traffic and there’s also going to be a lot of pedestrians. We wanted to improve safety for the pedestrians.”

Yamashita added that he’s pleased to see people using the new improvements around Town Center.

In current times along the east side of 80th Avenue Southeast — between Southeast 32nd and Southeast 27th streets — crews are creating a new sidewalk, adding new ADA-accessible curb ramps at the corners, installing updated street lighting, replacing the trees that were removed and enhancing those areas with landscaping.

“The old sidewalk was very narrow, and it was uplifted in many locations due to large tree roots lifting and breaking the sidewalk. And so it was due for replacement,” Yamashita said. “We’re creating deeper tree pits that create more space for the tree roots to grow without impacting the sidewalk. So the goal is to protect the sidewalk and have large healthy trees at the same time.”

Yamashita added that crews will also be replacing the sidewalk on 78th Avenue Southeast in front of Newell Court that was damaged by tree roots.

After commencing late last year, the full project should reach completion this summer.

Work also continues at the new commuter parking facility on Southeast 27th Street and Sunset Highway (the former Tully’s site) and the Sound Transit-installed traffic signal at 80th Avenue Southeast. That project, which should be complete by the end of June, will feature 35 parking stalls, bike racks, bike lockers and fresh landscaping. Sound Transit is also making a traffic signal improvement at North Mercer Way/76th Avenue Southeast at the westbound onramp to Interstate 90.

The city has an ongoing program to replace and upgrade ADA ramps throughout the Island, and the entirely grant-funded traffic signal safety improvements focus on installing ADA-compliant pedestrian sign push buttons.

In either 2025 or 2026, the city is planning to enhance the existing mid-block crosswalk near the drive-through Starbucks on Southeast 27th Street to a RRFB and upgrade the existing ADA ramps.