Lot at MICEC may offer parking relief

Published 12:34 pm Monday, November 24, 2014

City officials and Sound Transit planners told Islanders last Wednesday evening that they may have found a solution to the dearth of parking at the Park and Ride and in the North-end of the Island.

A solution may just be a parking structure that would accommodate 200-plus cars built adjacent to the existing parking lot at the Mercer Island Community and Events Center.

Sound Transit has $6.3 million set aside to go toward construction of a parking structure. At its completion, the lot will be available to all commuters for a period of five years while the Sound Transit closes the south Bellevue park and ride to build new capacity there.

After the expanded South Bellevue facility is completed — the Island lot would be transferred to the control of the city of Mercer Island. At that time, the city can manage the lot as they see fit. Presumably the city would limit its use to Islanders to park in the lot.

More than 100 people came to hear about the proposal.

Parking at the Park and Ride lot and in and around the Town Center in general, has been a sore spot for Islanders for years.

Not long after the existing park and ride was built along North Mercer Way, the 447-space lot was full. While not built for the exclusive use of Islanders, Island commuters complain there is not a space to be found in the lot after 7:30 a.m. In particular, Islanders who wished to travel into Seattle for an errand or a doctors appointment in the middle of the day, are stymied. Data from Metro and Sound transit indicates what Islanders already know. Half of those who park there are from off-Island.

With the advent of extensive cuts to local bus service, the need for additional commuter parking has become acute.

Many have asked why the lot cannot be exclusively or mostly used by Islanders.

The existing lot, paid for in part by federal grant money, cannot be turned over to Mercer Island nor can City set aside spaces or decide who uses the lot and when.

Island Mayor Bruce Bassett has heard this question many times. He stood up alongside Don Billen, the East Link Deputy Director for Sound Transit to ask him that question directly.

Billen said no, “it is not ours to give away.”

Billen said his agency is well aware of the problems with parking on the Island. He noted that when the Sound Transit East Link project (the light rail extension to Redmond) was proposed, no plans were included to provide additional parking.

Islanders had many questions about the proposal.

Many were concerned that “if we build it, they will come,” phenomena might entice more off-Islanders to seek parking here. Next, several asked if 200 more spaces would be enough over time.

Bassett answered that the 200 was a bit of a guess. But the agencies’ real goal at this point was to get input from the community.

“We want to know if this plan worth having a conversation about,” he asked.

Sound Transit officials concede that with the South Bellevue lot closed for construction, there will simply not be enough parking for anyone.

“We have leased parking spaces from churches in Bellevue and other places,” he said.” But it will not be enough.”

Community members wanted to know, why here? Some asked if there was any way Sound Transit could build more parking capacity elsewhere or encourage commuters to park near their home rather than coming to the Island to board buses or the coming trains.

But Sound Transit planner Tia Raamot and Billen said that Islanders have repeatedly told them they want more parking.

“We are responding to what we hear from Islanders,” Raamot said.

Others worried about the impact on the streets and neighborhood around the Community Center. One man said, “We are turning the north end of the Island into a bus terminal.” He wondered how the city or Sound Transit would enforce who uses the lots.

Bassett said that beyond adding parking, the city is hoping to ‘re-constitute’ bus service here and is exploring several options to ease congestion and traffic. Yet, both he and Billen emphasized that time is short.

Several pieces of the regional transportation are coming together soon, they noted. The timing is critical. In order to have the lot ready for the Bellevue closure and ahead of building rail lines in the I-90 center lanes, the new lot must be complete by 2017.

In the meantime, “Islanders are still ‘dying on the vine’ looking for parking,” Bassett said. “We need to move forward.”

To comment or find out more, visit www.soundtransit.org.

Other issues

• The lot would adversely affect neighbors along 82nd Avenue S.E. who overlook the space. City and transit representatives met with neighbors on Nov. 18.

•  An environmental review and other studies will be needed.

• Sound Transit will soon release a traffic study for the neighborhoods surrounding the Community Center and the Park and Ride.

• The final placement and expected impact of a turnaround for future buses at North Mercer Way and 80th Avenue S.E. is still being discussed.