Mar 13, 2019 | Vol. 14 | No. 11
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 Mercer Island Transit Interchange
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Map of transit interchange features; more information available by Thurs 5pm on the Let's Talk Mercer Island portal
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In fall of 2017, the City of Mercer Island and Sound Transit approved a
Settlement Agreement intended to
offset the impacts of light rail construction and operation, and also to partially compensate for permanent impacts to local traffic patterns.
King County Metro was not a party to the agreement, but it was known at the time that Metro would need to be involved in implementing the "77th Avenue SE Configuration" that will allow buses to exchange passengers with light rail trains in the future. As a result, Sound Transit commissioned the Mercer Island Transit Interchange Operational and Configuration Study to evaluate how Metro buses will integrate with the light rail station.
The future transit interchange achieves the key tenets of the Settlement Agreement:
- A roundabout at North Mercer Way & 77th Avenue SE, and no substantial bus operations/layovers along 80th Avenue
- Future bus volumes less than existing bus volumes
- No routing of regional buses through MI Town Center
- Limited occurrences of long bus layovers
- No bus idling
At next week's City Council Meeting on Tuesday, March 19 at City Hall, there will be a study session at 5:30pm during which Sound Transit will provide an East Link construction update and both agencies will answer questions about the study. The public is invited to attend in person, watch live online or on MI-TV Ch21, or submit questions or comments in advance at the City's public engagement website Let's Talk Mercer Island, which also will contain an FAQ page on this topic. The comment and question portal will be open by 5:00pm, Thursday, March 14.
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Women's History Month: Elected Officials
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CM Anderl, Mayor Bertlin, CM Weiker; click to learn more about the City Council |
We continue our series highlighting
Women's History Month, focusing this week on Mercer Island's elected officials.
The Mercer Island
City Council was created when the City incorporated in 1960. Among the first class of Councilmembers was Sheila LeClercq, who served on Council until 1967. Following in Sheila's footsteps were many notable female Councilmembers including Lissa Wells, Marguerite Sutherland, Beth Bland, Nan Hutchins, Linda Jackman, Judy Clibborn (former WA State Representative), Susan Blake, Jane Meyer Brahm, Tana Senn (current WA State Representative), Terry Pottmeyer, and current Councilmembers Debbie Bertlin, Wendy Weiker, and Lisa Anderl...
Mayor Debbie Bertlin has represented the Mercer Island community since 2012. She was appointed Mayor in 2018 after serving as Deputy Mayor from 2016-2017 and is the third female mayor in Mercer Island history. Before her, Judy Clibborn served as mayor in the mid-90's and Beth Bland, the City's first female mayor, in the late 70's. Mayor Bertlin grew up on the Island and is a Mercer Island High School alumnus. After earning degrees from Stanford and the University of Sussex, she went on to a career in the tech industry, including Microsoft and Oracle.
Councilmember Wendy Weiker was elected to City Council in 2015. Before joining Council, she served on the City's Utility Board. Councilmember Weiker earned degrees from the University of California, Irvine and UW before embarking on her career which featured stints with BP, Microsoft, and Puget Sound Energy, where she currently serves as the King County Community Outreach Manager. She and her family have lived on the Island for well over a decade and have been active in the community serving in various capacities including the Town Center Visioning Group and PTA at Island Park Elementary, Islander Middle School, and MI High School.
Mercer Island's newest
Councilmember, Lisa Anderl, was appointed by Council in late 2018 after serving as a member of the Community Advisory Group (CAG) in 2017-18. After earning both undergraduate and law degrees from Gonzaga, Councilmember Anderl has enjoyed an extensive career as a lawyer in Washington for over 35 years, in legal departments at CenturyLink and the Utilities and Transportation Commission. She and her husband have lived on the Island for twenty years.
Watch for two more stories this month!
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Transportation Improvement Program Comment Period
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Click to learn more and submit your comments
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Mercer Island and other cities in Washington State are preparing annual updates to their six-year
transportation improvement programs, known as a "TIP". The
TIP includes roadway, pedestrian, and bicycle projects planned for the six-year period beginning in 2020. The process of updating Mercer Island's TIP includes opportunities for the public to provide input. The public comment period runs from March 15-April 15, 2019 and this year comments can be
submitted online.
The City Council will also hold a public hearing on the draft TIP at the May 7, 2019 City Council meeting, with the purpose of receiving public testimony. Interested individuals may appear and provide input at the hearing. The TIP is scheduled for adoption by the City Council on June 4, 2019.
If you have questions, please contact the Public Works Department at
PublicWorks@mercergov.org
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Treating Stormwater with Oyster Shells
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A sampler box assessing the oyster shell treatment process in Town Center; click for
more information
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The City of Mercer Island is collaborating with
King County's Stormwater Division on a pilot project to retrofit two underground stormwater catch basins in Town Center. Catch basins typically collect rainwater from the storm drain gratings set into the street gutter, and then convey it into stormwater pipes that ultimately empty into Lake Washington. Stormwater is the biggest source of pollution in Puget Sound.
The innovative new approach adds crushed oyster shells as a way to clean stormwater of dissolved metals like copper and zinc, which are harmful to fish and other aquatic life. In order to assess the long-term effectiveness of this treatment, above-ground sampling boxes (see photo) will test water going into, and coming out of, the selected catch basins for approximately two years.
These two catch basin locations were selected because they have been part of previous monitoring efforts, providing good data for comparison. The project follows a design successfully used in other regional locations by the Port of Seattle and United Parcel Service; if effective, the technology may be used elsewhere in King County.
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Annual MI Half Marathon: Sunday, March 24
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Click for more information
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The 48th annual Mercer Island Half Marathon, organized by the Rotary Club hits the streets and trails of Mercer Island on Sunday, March 24, 2019. This will result in temporary road closures and some traffic delays. Five different run or walk events benefiting colon cancer prevention will take place throughout the morning.
Mercer Island Police, Rotary course marshals, and volunteers will provide traffic control throughout the day. Signs will clearly denote detours and areas of temporary traffic delays. Bicyclists and drivers are asked to comply with requests made by race officials. If you must use East, West, or North Mercer Way, please travel in a counterclockwise direction to minimize delays. Residents are advised to use Island Crest Way for North/South travel, if at all possible.
Events begin at 7:30am and ends at approximately Noon; click here for more schedule information.
Click here for course maps.
Click here for special travel advice for cyclists.
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