Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) 2026

I am encouraged the city is moving forward on completing the north-south bike/ped route. This project has been on the city’s radar since at least 1996.
The current update is to construct a route on the west side of ICW, from IP school’s new crosswalk light to SE 60th. That helps access to IP school and the bike skills area. But it is an isolated section, with gaps at both ends.

On the north end, the current route ends at ICW and 90th SE/the mailbox. Southbound cyclists have to make a dangerous crossing of 90th to continue to the new crosswalk, on a narrow sidewalk; or try to cross ICW at 90th despite the lack of a crosswalk.
Suggestion: make the southbound bike route from the Ellis Pond/library area cross ICW at 47th, using the existing crosswalk light. Cyclists could continue south on ICW, using the existing shoulder, marked and adequately separated from traffic.

South of SE 60th is another gap, until the route turns west along SE 62nd. Doubtless, many peds and bikes will continue to use the existing dirt path on the west side, but that path is narrow for bikes and peds going both directions.
Suggestion: make the route one way southbound for bikes on the west side of ICW; bidirectional for peds. Continue it along ICW to SE 68th, either making a bike lane along ICW or using one of the two parallel paths in Pioneer Park for bikes, the other for peds. That would be safer than bidirectional for bikes and peds, and should allow a narrower path, = fewer trees impacted.
South of 68th, the bike route could continue along ICW to SE 71st. A route safer than the current one would go through the Estates neighborhood to the middle school, Lakeridge, the ball fields etc.

If the route on the east side of ICW were one way northbound for bikes, bidirectional for peds, beginning at SE 68th, the existing sidewalk could be widened. If needed, additional area could be gained by cutting back the laurel that encroaches on city property. As cyclists reach 90th/the mailbox, they could continue north along ICW (using the shoulder on ICW, marked and separated as a bike lane), or go up 90th along the current route.

I would like to echo other comments about the lack of cycling infrastructure on Mercer Island. What exists, is often dangerous (e.g. the ICW/40th intersection) or piecemeal and non-specific (e.g ICW is entirely a bumpy, sometimes narrow, unmarked path shared with pedestrians with no right of way specifications). Almost all bike route sections are unlit, to boot.

Establishing one quality north south route with an east west connector to EMW and WMW is my strong recommendation, as a parent who would love to bike to any on island destination, thereby minimizing traffic through arterials for those that drive.

Mercer Island needs much more (and better) infrastructure to support bicycles and related forms of transportation. Many of our roads and intersections are unsafe for cyclists. Yet, the number of bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters on our roads has been rapidly growing.

My family of five lives by Lakeridge Elementary School. And across all of us, we own and regularly use five traditional bicycles, two e-bikes with top speeds of around 20 mph, and an e-scooter with a similar top speed of around 20 mph.

One observation I have from living here for the last 14 years and watching my children grow up is that the most important roadways on Mercer Island, such as Island Crest Way and East and West Mercer Way, are not particularly safe for children (or adults for that matter) who are riding bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters.

I appreciate the work the City has done to widen some of the shoulder areas of East and West Mercer Way. And I’d very much like that work to continue, ideally at a more aggressive pace. And I’d like the Island Crest Way Corridor Improvements Project to be fully approved and move forward at a more aggressive pace as well.

Other areas around the Island are similarly unsafe. As an example, the intersection of 40th Street and Island Crest Way is unsafe for cyclists even though the east/west corridor is a designated bike route with bicycles painted on the roadway. But if you actually use the lane as it suggests on a bike, you’ll find yourself surrounded by cars and needing to navigate a complicated, multi-lane intersection.

I worry every time my wife and kids ride from our home on the south end of Mercer Island to the north end and back. My kids make that trip regularly by bike and scooter in all weather conditions and sometimes outside of daylight hours. There really isn’t a safe way right now for kids to get around the Island on bikes and scooters.

Meanwhile, King County actively encourages cycling and e-cycling, and has been building infrastructure to support it. The cities of Seattle and Bellevue have made safe bike routes a priority, and both have come a long way in the last ten years. It’s time we do the same.

Preparing for the perfect storm.

Before COVID ridership at the Mercer Island Transit Center was so great that a bus would roll into the stop every 10 minutes. You didn’t have to run to catch a bus to Seattle because you knew there would be another even before you got to the loading zone. Covid changed this but for how long? I think everything will return to normal when the new Light Rail Station opens, only more so. The question is “Will we be ready?”

Mayor Bassett ten years ago understood this challenge. He promoted more commuter parking in the Town Center. He pushed for more sidewalk lighting so North end residents could walk to our transit hub instead of driving. He looked for local churches to partner with to help create resident only commuter parking near the transit hub. He personally lobbied for local buses to help transport residents on the south end to the north so they didn’t need to drive. He worked directly with residents to solve community challenges.

Since this time, many options for commuters have gone. Especially the number of public commuter parking spaces that existed on our Town Center streets. Along with this, private parking spaces that helped commuters have gone away as well with the new two hour parking limits that have forced our business community to move their employee and business parking to their private customer parking, forcing their customers out on the street to public parking. While sharing of private parking at one time was common, today almost every private parking lot is patrolled. The days of sharing are over. Today it is every business doing what it must to stay alive.

While some lighting has improved next to the new Light Rail Station, almost all other sidewalks are still unlit, requiring driving for north end residents when the sun is down. This includes not just north end neighborhoods like Shorewood Heights, around the Roanoke Inn and First Hill but actual residents living directly next to the Town Center.

What we can do in short order is to ask the few churches that haven’t partnered with Sound Transit to help out until the storm has passed. We can also in very short order just use paint to add extra public parking to our streets with dead center lanes. As well we can pretty quickly fix all the street lights in Town Center to shine both on the street and the sidewalk as is being done at the new rail station. Then long term we can get serious about lighting all our sidewalks coming into the Town Center from the north end. None of these sidewalks should ever again be unsafe to use after dark.

Above all though, I think we need to consider what it was that Mayor Bassett and the city manager of the time did that was best. They never tried to do it alone. They never felt that they alone held all the answers. They formed the Town Center Stakeholder Group, the Citizen Advisory Group (CAG), the Mercer Island Wayfinding Committee,... They brought together residents of all backgrounds, viewpoints and skill-sets and asked them to help out. They asked them to work with them to make sure we had a wonderful home to live in. It is this teamwork of residents and city that made our community a great place to live. It is this attitude that will also help us to avoid the storms that lie ahead of us in the future.

Thanks,
Jim

Walking and cycling should be promoted and supported in Mercer Island. We are fortunate to have a community where most of our needs are only a short distance away. However, walking and cycling in our main thoroughfares of EMW and WMW (the most direct and level routes to town center from many residences) is a dangerous undertaking. I think many parents do not feel comfortable letting their children walk on WMW to West Mercer Elementary however short the distance. Thus, parents feel obliged to drive their kids to and from school, creating more traffic, and more unnecessary trips, and depriving the children from outdoor physical exercise. Motorized vehicles are not looking for pedestrians and cyclist around the many blind curves on Mercer Way (and many do not heed the 25 MPH limit on many of the curves,) this danger discourages walking and cycling.

Please consider improving the main thoroughfares with a physical separation between dedicated pedestrian-cycling paths and motor vehicles.

Building a separated, safe north-south bike and pedestrian path along the "missing link" of Island Crest Way (from 53rd to 68th) should be a top priority for the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

This project would provide a vital, protected connection for commuters heading to the Town Center and light rail station, as well as students traveling to and from school. As the use of bicycles and new forms of micromobility continues to rise, the city’s Comprehensive Plan explicitly calls for a fully connected network for non-motorized travel.

Currently, Mercer Island lags behind our neighboring Lake Washington communities in providing separated bike infrastructure. Without these dedicated paths, conflicts between cars, cyclists, and pedestrians are inevitable. The state and county have increased grant funding for this infrastructure; we should take advantage of this opportunity.

Comment on SE. 68th St/ICW improvements.
I live on SE 68th and travel through the SE 68/ICW intersection daily as a driver and as a pedestrian. There is substantial pedestrian activity at the intersection from the trails; there are also frequent/ongoing car/ped conflicts and close calls. The proposed pedestrian improvements appear to be focused on ADA compliant crossings ramps. That’s appropriate but I feel strongly that some additional pedestrian safety improvements — such as enhanced crosswalks, flags/activated ped light — are also needed now. The ped crossing at SE 61st/ICW was upgraded last year and it has much less ped activity compared to SE 68th. Please consider adding additional safety improvements in this planning cycle. They are long overdue.
Richard Weinman

Hello. I am a long-time resident, pedestrian, and bicyclist. In the past year, I have noticed increasing rudeness from bicyclists and lack of sharing the road with vehicles. I would appreciate clearer rules on road-sharing between bicyclists and drivers, and an encouragement for both parties to share the road. It is becoming increasingly stressful to drive here, and I have been unfairly cursed and yelled at by bikers several times. I love our island and would like to keep it civil. In my opinion, drivers have first priority on roads. As a biker, I bike on designated trails. Thank you.