Background on the 2017 Sound Transit-Mercer Island Settlement Agreement

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. The Settlement Agreement includes a package of mitigation measures valued at just over $10 million, including key community-identified priorities:

Traffic/Safety Enhancements and Last Mile Solutions: $5.3 million to address vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian access issues resulting from the closure of the Center Roadway and fund “last/first-mile solutions” that enable Islanders to access transit without driving.
Parking: $4.6 million that will provide approximately 100 additional commuter parking stalls during the East Link construction period (2017-2023), and will fund construction of new commuter parking for residents.
Bus-Rail Integration: No bus facility will be built on 80^th Avenue - instead, all pick-up and drop-offs will continue to occur on North Mercer Way and bus volumes will be comparable to today.

The Settlement Agreement further details the following points of agreement for the transit interchange:

A roundabout at N Mercer Way & 77th Ave, and no substantial bus operations/layovers along 80th Ave
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