The regularly scheduled Spring 2019 Metro service changes go into effect on March 23 and there are two significant changes on Mercer Island this year.

 

Route 201, which served an average of only eight riders daily, will be deleted. However, the service hours will be reinvested to provide long-desired hourly Saturday service on Route 204.  This will be welcome news to the nearly 70 Route 204 bus riders who, in late 2017, submitted a signed petition to King County and the City Council requesting the addition of weekend hours. 

 

Route 204 will be converted to a DART route with flexible service areas in both south and north Mercer Island. Trips in flexible service areas are allowed outside of peak hours and must be requested in advance. DART buses are smaller and will look similar to the current Route 630 bus.

 

The City, King County, and Seattle have also ensured that the popular Route 630 will continue into 2020.  Due to its success, Route 630 will then move out of pilot project status and into sustained service as a regular route.

 

Finally, a note for those who work in Seattle: seven bus routes will shift permanently from the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSST) to Seattle surface streets, which will impact area traffic.

March is Women's History Month and this Friday (March 8) is International Women's Day. In honor of Women's History Month, the MI Weekly will spend this month highlighting women leaders who serve the community through the City of Mercer Island. The origins of International Women's Day and Women's' History Month date back to 1911, but it wasn't until 1987 that it became an official national celebration.

 

The community of Mercer Island has a long history of embracing female leaders. In the early years, Alla Olds, a member of the Olds pioneer family, served as one of the Island's first teachers. Dr. Bernice Cohen Sachs, a pioneer in the field of psychiatry, served as the first female president of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine and was an avid supporter of the Jewish Community Center.

 

Mercer Island has also been home to groundbreaking media leaders like Jean Enerson, the region's first female anchor, Barbara Hiscock Stenson, a broadcast journalist for KING, KOMO, and KCPQ, Peggy Reynolds, longtime editor and publisher of the MI Reporter, and Assunta Ng, founder and publisher of the Seattle Chinese Post.

 

There are many, many other examples of women who have brought fame to the Island, like Olympic gold medalist Mary Wayte, and others who have led quietly by example like Lola Deane, founder of the community's beloved Island Books and Mercer Island Community Fund, and namesake, with husband Phil, for Deane's Children's Park.

 

All of these women, and more, have made a distinct impact on the community, and the City is grateful for their many contributions. Watch for three more stories this month!

Last May, the City Council announced its research into a significant new parking proposal for Island commuters. The two properties involved ( see map) are located near each end of the future East Link light rail station, and could potentially add up to 200 new stalls total as part of mixed-use developments. The projects are anticipated to help address parking pressure on the current  Park and Ride, which typically fills by 7:00am on most weekdays.

 

Since that time, the City has moved forward on the eastern location (site of the former Tully's Coffee) and in December 2018, selected MainStreet Property Group as the Developer, which will be supported by Weinstein A+U as the lead Architect and Planner; the City is currently negotiating an MOU with these firms. The Mercer Island Center for the Arts (MICA), which seeks performance and teaching space in this future facility, is negotiating a separate MOU.

 

Meanwhile, the City continues to work with developers of the western location (site of the former Freshy's Seafood) and has extended the due diligence period to June 30 to allow more time for the buyer of City Parcel 7 to study the financial feasibility of the proposed project.

 

Learn more about the  history of this practice.

The Washington State Legislature is currently discussing doing away with the time change, and staying on Pacific Daylight Time year round.