Soon Mercer Island residents will lose a long-time benefit that allowed them to drive in the reversible HOV lanes on I-90 even if they're alone in the vehicle.
The reversible HOV lanes will close in June 2017 to begin the construction of Sound Transit Light Rail East Link Extension, set to open in 2023.
When the lanes go away, so does the free access that residents were promised in 1976, when the plan was put in place to expand I-90 over Mercer Island from five lanes to eight. Allowing single occupancy vehicles in the HOV lanes was part of the mitigation-along with noise barriers and the lid park.
Residents worry about the impact of adding all of the Mercer Island traffic into the mainline.
"I can't imagine what the commute's going to look like," said Mercer Island resident Leslie Mesnick. "It's really going to impact every aspect of home life and work life. I drop off my kids off at school and have a short period of time to get into work when school starts."
Resident Jeannette Petersen said she'll head to Bellevue and skip Seattle to avoid traffic.
"I'm concerned about the island... being isolated and blocked off from easy access to and from the city. And the teachers and the workers, anyone who needs to get off and on the island on a daily basis."
Tom Acker started the group "Save our Suburbs" and recently ran for Mercer Island City Council. He is frustrated the city didn't do more to prepare for the closure of the HOV lanes; he said they have had eight years since the light rail expansion was approved.
"It's not only going to impact Mercer Island, it's going to impact the whole region," Acker said. "You have three big issues-you have safety, you have mobility, then you have schools."
Acker says 75 percent of the teachers on Mercer Island don't live there. He also expressed safety concerns about the plan to narrow the width of the lanes on I-90 to add a carpool lane.
He said Mercer Island doesn't have a ladder truck and counts on mutual aid from Bellevue Police and Bellevue Fire. Acker worries those resources could get stuck in traffic when residents are in need of help.
Along with the closure of the reversible lanes, Acker says on-ramps will also close. He says Mercer Island drivers will have trouble even getting on I-90.
That's 1,200 cars per hour that are going to be fed into two on-ramps during peak traffic, 1,200 cars per hour. Those lanes cannot accommodate that kind of volume so the traffic is going to back up through there and up the streets."
The city says it is working with the Federal Highway Administration, WSDOT and Sound Transit for a solution. One idea is to allow Mercer Island traffic in the HOV lane that will be added to the mainline. But the FHWA said in a letter last August that allowing single-occupancy vehicles in an HOV lane does not fit the federal definition of an HOV lane. Another option mentioned by the Federal Highway Administration was to limit the hours of the new HOV lane or make it a HOT lane, where drivers pay to use it like the 405 lanes in Bellevue.
The city didn't have anyone available to do an interview, but gave KIRO-7 a statement, "The City believes there is an I-90 access solution that can ensure continued mobility for Mercer Island and its neighbors, and that respects historic agreements dating back to 1976."
There will be a public meeting in January.
Cox Media Group
