Mercer Island To Sue Sound Transit, State Over I-90 Access

MERCER ISLAND, WA - The City Council on Monday night voted unanimously to sue Sound Transit and the Washington State Department of Transportation over access to westbound I-90 lanes for single-occupant vehicles.

The city is suing over the planned closure of the Island Crest Way on-ramp to westbound I-90 this June. Due to construction of light rail, that on-ramp will be accessible to high-occupancy vehicles (HOV) only.

“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,” Mayor Bruce Bassett said in a press release.

If the closure goes as planned, single-occupant access to I-90 westbound would be limited to the 76th Avenue Southeast on-ramp.

The lawsuit could cost Mercer Island taxpayers up to $600,000, according to reports, which Bassett says would be paid for by diverting money from parks public works projects.

Mercer Island intends to file the lawsuit in King County Superior Court within a month. The suit will ask Sound Transit and WSDOT to hold off on closing Island Crest Way SOV access "until the parties reach an agreement about mobility and access issues for Mercer Island."

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“Islanders approved the East Link Light Rail Project by a conclusive margin, and as a community, we still believe in the benefits the Project will provide to the region and to us,” Bassett said in the release. “But even the best public works projects bring consequences that must be taken seriously and mitigated effectively. So far, negotiations with Sound Transit and WSDOT haven’t yielded results, but we remain hopeful this issue can be resolved favorably and swiftly.”

Image via Patch.com