Page 2 | Wednesday, June 18, 2014
MERCER ISLAND REPORTER | www.mi-reporter.com
City Council revisits transit hub study By Celina Kareiva
ckareiva@mi-reporter.com
On Monday, June 16 representatives from Sound Transit and King County Metro, presented to Council and staff, updated design plans for the Island station and a more nuanced study of the impact East Link will have on the Northend Park-and-Ride. The presentation follows last Thursday’s executive order by Dow Constantine, calling for greater integration between bus and rail lines. When East Link begins service in 2023, it will overlap with certain existing routes, like ST 550 and 554, which stop on the
Island and proceed on to destinations in Bellevue and Issaquah. “As we build out our regonal light rail system,” said Don Billen, East Link’s deputy project director, “there will be many opportunities to integrate bus and rail service, to better serve riders and to achieve operational efficiencies for the transit agencies.” On Mercer Island, that means removing duplicate services. Buses stop on the Island 350 times a day. An additional 150 buses travel across I-90 but don’t stop in the city. A more integrated plan would remove some of those buses from the road. Billen says he expects East Link to require as many or
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REPORTER
Mercer Island
Volume 57, No. 25
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Roadwork ahead
William Shaw, Publisher wshaw@soundpublishing.com Mary L. Grady, Editor editor@mi-reporter.com
This year’s busy season of road construction in the greater Seattle area has already begun. Drivers can expect two more weekends of full closure of SR-520 bridge. Crews working for WSDOT and Sound Transit have begun work to realign the eastbound I-90 off-ramps to Bellevue Way and I-405 as part of a project to add HOV lanes to I-90 between Seattle and Bellevue. This stage of work will require around-the-clock closures of the East-bound off-ramps to Bellevue Way and I-405 later this summer. Beginning in July, work to replace two aging expansion joints on West-bound I-90 at the East Channel Bridge, between Bellevue and Mercer Island, will close three lanes around the clock for up to seven days. Check for construction updates online at www. wsdot.wa.gov. Transportation officials remind drivers to protect yourself, your passengers and workers when traveling in a work
zone. There were close to 1,500 work zone collisions in 2013. With summer construction underway it’s important to slow down. More than 90 percent of work-zone collisions result in injuries to the driver and passengers. Set a good example. Slow down, pay attention. More than 40 percent of work-zone collisions in Washington involved a driver age 30 or younger.
Parks & Rec’s Marilyn Anderson retires After 33 years of service to the Mercer Island community, popular city employee Marilyn Anderson retired from the Parks and Recreation Department May 22, 2014. Anderson was hired as the first female maintenance employee for the city. She served in many roles throughout her career, including at numerous volunteer events across the parks system, at special events such as Summer Celebration and Mostly Music in the Park, on capital improvement projects, and other parks and trail maintenance responsibilities. She’s
had a passion for working outdoors and says she has cherished every moment of her career. Known throughout the community, Marilyn’s personality, spontaneity, and dedication have had a tremendous impact on her coworkers. The Mercer Island community, and the city thanks her for such notable service.
Country Village granted onemonth extension The Mercer Island School District approved a one-month extension on the lease for Country Village Day School (CVDS) at a school board meeting last Thursday, June 12. CVDS had been petitioning for the extension since voters approved additional levies earlier this year. CVDS will eventually move to more permanent grounds on the Northend of the Island at the former site of the John L. Scott offices near City Hall, but board members and faculty worried that they wouldn’t be able to ready the unit in time, without interrupting programming.
Theres’a Baumann, Advertising tbaumann@mi-reporter.com Celina Kareiva, Joseph Livarchik Staff Writers Melanie Morgan, Production The Mercer Island Reporter (USPS 339620) is published every Wednesday by Sound Publishing, Inc. Second-class postage paid at Mercer Island, WA. Subscriptions: $39 per year. Postmaster: Send address changes to, 3047 78th Ave S.E. #207, Mercer Island, WA 98040.
The 30-day extension would start September 30 and run through the end of October.
Coval developers file land use petition The developers behind 18 town houses planned for the historic Coval property have filed a petition under the Land Use Petition Act (LUPA), pending a potential redesign of the project. In court documents filed May 14 by MI 84th Limited Partnership, the petition alleges the city’s decision was an “erroneous interpretation of the law.” Since the city rejected the Coval development in February, the Coval family has sold the lot to MI 84th Limited Partnership. The petitioner also alleges that the redesign process provided by the city’s development regulations is optional, not mandatory. The Coval house has been featured on HGTV”s “Million Dollar Homes” and has its own website. Some regard it as an iconic piece of Island history.
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Constantine calls for more integrated bus and rail lines
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