Mercer Island I-90 Suit Could Delay Light Rail, Sound Transit Says

MERCER ISLAND, WA - The city's lawsuit against Sound Transit and the Washington Department of Transportation over access to I-90 could delay the construction of East Link light rail, the Sound Transit CEO is saying.

Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff responded to Mercer Island's intention to sue over access to westbound I-90 via Island Crest Way. The City Council on Monday voted unanimously to move ahead with the suit, which could be filed within a month, Mayor Bruce Bassett has said.

"It is highly regrettable that the City of Mercer Island is now attempting to delay the project in mid-construction," Rogoff said in a statement released Tuesday. "Neither the Washington State Department of Transportation nor Sound Transit are empowered to reverse the Federal Highway Administration’s decisions regarding access by single-occupant Mercer Island traffic to the new HOV lanes across Lake Washington."

Mercer Island is suing because westbound access to I-90 via Island Crest Way for single-occupancy vehicles will end in June due to East Link construction. In June, the Island Crest Way on-ramp will be available to high-occupancy vehicles only. That would leave only one access point to westbound I-90 in the downtown area. If the suit stops the June on-ramp switch, construction on light rail could be delayed.

Bassett has said that such a move would cause a traffic mess in the town area.

"After two years of negotiation, we still have not reached a satisfactory agreement with Sound Transit and WSDOT that would avoid the diversion of heavy commuter traffic to local neighborhood streets and school zones. No community would accept that. With the June closure approaching, we had no other choice but to exercise our available legal options," he said in a statement.

But Sound Transit says that a nearly 40-year-old decision from the U.S. Department of Transportation deems that public transit be given the highest priority in the I-90 express lanes. A 2004 agreement traded the express lanes for two HOV lanes in either direction of I-90.

"In 2004 all of the parties to the 1976 agreement and Sound Transit signed an amendment establishing plans for constructing high capacity transit in the center lanes," Sound Transit said in a statement. "That conversion was stipulated to occur following the addition of one new HOV lane in each direction to the outer roadways. The 2004 amendment did not identify Mercer Island SOV access to the new HOV lanes as a project component, but instead provided that transportation studies would be used to determine if the changes to I-90 would cause a loss of mobility to and from Mercer Island and that WSDOT satisfactorily address any such loss."

Sound Transit says that it has tried to work with Mercer Island and WSDOT to determine if loss of SOV access will harm mobility on the island, taking into account that light rail would reduce traffic.

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