REPORTER
Mercer Island www.mi-reporter.com
MI | THIS WEEK
Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2012 | 75¢
$196 million for new schools
Traffic jam in Town Center
‘Giving from the Heart’ breakfast is Feb. 8 The annual ‘Giving from the Heart’ breakfast, that supports Mercer Island Youth & Family Services, is set for 7 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8 at the Mercer Island Community and Events Center. The event begins at 7 a.m. and runs until 8:30 a.m. Learn more on page 7 of this issue.
Tax increase will be offset by levy set to expire in three years By Linda Ball lball@mi-reporter.com
Senior night at Friday’s quad basketball games The four MIHS boys and girls basketball programs will celebrate seniors during their final home games of the regular season on Friday, Feb. 3 against Bellevue. The varsity girls will start the games off at 6:30 p.m., followed by the varsity boys at 8 p.m. all at MIHS. It is also ‘purple-out’ night in honor of Relay for Life, and Little Cheer Night.
PSE to refund customers in the dark during storm Customers who lost power for 120 consecutive hours or more during the recent snow and ice storms should see a $50 credit on their next PSE electric bill received after Feb. 15. If the credit does not appear, customers should call PSE at 888-225-5773. See www.pse.com for more details.
Chad Coleman/Staff Photo
Vehicles line up along S.E. 27th Street for the eastbound Interstate 90 on-ramp in downtown Mercer Island on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Since the closure of the HOV on-ramp to I-90 from S.E. 80th Avenue, traffic through downtown has been busy in the evenings.
Ramp closure, construction create backups at I-90/ICW WSDOT reopens key ramp to ease evening rush hour problems By Mary L. Grady editor@mi-reporter.com
It was a perfect storm of traffic complications. Last week, the eye of the storm was directly over the intersection of S.E. 27th Street and 80th Avenue S.E. On Jan. 23, a key ramp used by buses to re-enter the I-90 center lanes, after exiting the Park and Ride, was shut. The ramp closure meant that buses from
the Park and Ride had to turn left from 80th Avenue S.E. onto S.E. 27th Street, through a four-way stop, to get to the Island Crest Way on-ramp to I-90. Turning a 60-foot-long Sound Transit bus onto S.E. 27th Street during the Island’s evening commute is no small feat. Adding to that, construction on both sides of the lanes on the ICW I-90 eastbound ramp and beyond backed up cars onto S.E. 27th Street. Complicating the situation further is the notable increase in traffic ostensibly avoiding tolling on SR-520 and the related increase in single occupant www.MI-Reporter.com
vehicles coming onto the Island from the express/center lanes. SOV drivers must exit on the 77th Avenue S.E. ramp, then turn onto S.E. 27th Street in order to reenter the mainline I-90 eastbound lanes at Island Crest Way. Blocked intersections, late buses and frustrated commuters were the result. The new traffic lights on S.E. 27th did not appear to help the situation. On Friday, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) moved about 300 feet of barrier around and beyond the Island Crest Way on-ramp
to increase volume and ease backups leading to the ramp and the I-90 merge. Noel Brady of WSDOT said they are waiting to see how effective that change is at relieving congestion for drivers getting onto I-90. Going a step further on Monday afternoon, WSDOT decided to re-open the-80th Street off-ramp to the center lanes used by buses during peak afternoon hours. WSDOT will have flaggers at the 80th Street ramp in order to expedite traffic flow for the buses there. The 80th Avenue S.E. reversible I-90 express lanes ramp closed Jan. 23 and will remain closed to all traffic for up to four weeks. After some alterations, WSDOT ramp crews will be moving
It was standing room only at Thursday night’s School Board meeting, as citizens, school supporters, people on the fence, teachers and the curious crammed into the Mercer Island School District’s board room to see if at long last the board of directors would reach a decision as to what to place before voters in April. The Mercer Island School District will ask voters on April 17 to approve a single bond proposition of $196,275,000 to replace
BOND | PAGE 4
The Mercer Island High School girls basketball team wraps up the regular season this week. See Sports on page 9 for details.
TRAFFIC | PAGE 2
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