Jan 9, 2019 | Vol. 14 | No. 2
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State Highway 99 Three-Week Closure
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The Highway 99 viaduct will be demolished soon; click for more information
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At 10:00pm this Friday, January 11, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will close the SR99 highway viaduct through downtown Seattle.
But the replacement tunnel won't open for three weeks, making the event the longest highway closure in regional history. Major congestion is expected, including on I-90 and I-405.
It's not too late to look into alternative routes, carpooling, telecommuting options, etc. Learn more from the WSDOT project site. |
2018 Year in Review Video Slideshow
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Click to watch our 3-minute 2018 slideshow
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We just finished making a video compilation of your City's accomplishments and celebrations from the past year and wanted to share it right away with MI-Weekly subscribers...
We couldn't include everything, but ended up with a great overview of the year's activities. Check out our 2018 Year-in-Review here, and enjoy the 3-minute show!
Thank you to each and every resident for making Mercer Island a great place to live and work. |
Solarize Program Leads to 45 New Installations
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A new Solarize installation designed to recharge electric vehicles;
click to learn more
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In the summer of 2018, the City launched its second
Solarize Mercer Island campaign, which offered special group pricing on rooftop solar installation, using a community-selected contractor,
Sphere Solar Energy.
Almost 200 people attended one of four free workshops to learn more, and half of them chose to arrange a free site assessment of their roof's solar potential. By the end of December, 45 Island households had installed (or contracted for) new solar arrays, and several are using them to refuel electric vehicles (see photo).
By partnering
with
local citizens' group Sustainable Mercer Island and the regional non-profit Spark Northwest, solar capacity on the Island was increased by 50 percent (over 470 kilowatts) in just six months! Another 16 installations occurred independently in 2018, outside of the Solarize program.
Thanks to a federal tax rebate, group discounts, and solar energy incentives from the State, most arrays will pay off in about 7 years. Mercer Island now has 184 known solar installations, ranging from just a few panels to over 350 panels at two MI School District facilities.
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January 6 Windstorm Recap
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The largest blowdown on West Mercer Way; click for windstorm preparedness info
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Early in the morning of Sunday, January 6, a short-lived but unexpectedly aggressive windstorm developed across the Puget Sound region, leading to peak gusts of 60mph on the I-90 floating bridge and parts of Mercer Island.
Although it lasted only a few hours, a great deal of debris fell from trees and several large trees were toppled across roadways. A few houses sustained direct damage from blowdowns, but no major injuries were reported. Approximately 1,000 Island homes lost power for up to two days as recovery efforts continued. City Hall resorted to generator power for 48 hours in order to continue managing the incident as well as regular operations. Over 220,000 PSE customers across the region lost power during the event.
City teams, composed of Public Works, Police, Fire, and Communications staff, collectively managed the incident, alerted residents, and set about clearing blockages in coordination with Puget Sound Energy (PSE). The largest road closure, at 4000 West Mercer Way took over a day to remove due to its size and involvement with powerlines (see photo).
Thanks to good coordination with PSE and frequent staff training, the incident was resolved swiftly for Mercer Island. Events like these are a good reminder to be prepared for winter storms and power outages that may last for multiple days. Learn more from the City's Emergency Preparedness program. |
Art and Architecture Lecture, Jan 29
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Gothic Cathedrals; click to learn more about the event |
The Mercer Island Sister City Association and the City's Arts Council are pleased to present a lecture on French art and architecture at 7:00pm on January 29, at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center (MICEC). Frye Art Museum art historian Rebecca Albioni will speak on "Uninterrupted Light: The Gothic Cathedral" exploring the use of Gothic style in the creation of ever-more impressive cathedrals in 12th and 13th century France. Call (206) 353-9122 with questions, or purchase $15 tickets online. |
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