Mercer Island's Sound Transit Deal Hinged On 'Financial Trade-Offs'

MERCER ISLAND, WA - Ultimately, the city's decision last week to tentatively accept a settlement with Sound Transit over I-90 access came down to the "financial trade-offs" of spending millions on litigation and the risk of losing out on a settlement. That's according to a letter sent this week to Mercer Island residents by City Manager Julie Underwood. In the letter, Underwood explains that the city was facing the prospect of spending another $1.5 million on litigation, meanwhile the city had already been dealt two recent loses in court.

"Why did we do this? Didn’t we have a good legal case? Couldn’t we get more through the courts? There is no way to answer these questions with certainty. It was all speculative, but even the speculation had the odds stacked against us, especially considering two rulings against the city so far," she wrote.

Underwood said that Sound Transit approached the city with a deal over Memorial Day weekend and told city officials that the offer was final. Sound Transit gave the city until midnight on May 31 to make a decision, according to the letter.

Although the settlement is not official yet (the Sound Transit board and the Mercer Island council still have to approve it), the council voted last Wednesday to tentatively accept it. The offer gives Mercer Island $10.5 million to make traffic improvements. The city also got Sound Transit to drop a plan for a bus facility along 80th Avenue.

However, the biggest sticking point - granting single-occupancy vehicles (SOV) access to HOV lanes at Island Crest Way - remains unsolved. The Federal Highway Administration does not allow SOV access to HOV lanes, but Mercer Island will lobby Congress to change that, Underwood says in her letter.

"The city will need to pursue federal legislation, which it intends to do. As a result of this settlement however, we expect greater assistance from the state and Sound Transit, and the continued support of our state and federal delegations," she wrote.

Read Underwood's full letter about the Sound Transit deal here.

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