Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) 2026

Need better paint job on the streets. Especially, crosswalks on north Mercer way are faded away and hard to see from drivers.
Need sidewalks on Mercer wood drive to the SE 40th street where many people walk with dogs or run, sometime wheelchair too on the narrow shoulder where cars parked.
Also need shuttle or bus(public transportation) services in all neighborhood to connect light rail station. No access in east side of island for now. The Park and ride has been over filled even before light rail came.

Hey, cyclists!
Share the road! Obey the traffic rules! You don’t own the streets!
In the past, Mercer island city council members decided not to restrict cyclists but educate them but I don’t see any result at all. The 99% of the cyclists act as if they are racers and own the streets, prioritizing themselves. They never stop on stop signs and they don’t notify to pedestrians when they are passing the trails that can cause serious accidents.
Many don’t even have front light and rear on. In many occasions they are in a group. I’m wondering if they got a permits from city. They just go through together at the all way stop intersection as if they are one huge vehicle instead one at a time. Many are not ride on the shoulder and double triple side by side blocking the narrow local streets even some cars are behind them.
Rarely seen mannered cyclists. It seems the most of the lack of mannered cyclists are not commuters just visitors from nearby cities for their fun or training on weekend. The street, especially on north and east Mercer way has the most problem. Does Somebody consider about local residence safety and rights rather than cyclists from outside the island? Hope the current council members see the ongoing issues of cyclists manners and apply the same restrictions and reinforcement as they do to drivers. It’s no use and waste if just improving path for cyclists by spending local taxpayers money in my opinion.

I implore the City Council to prioritize the safety of the corridor on West Mercer Way between West Mercer Elementary and Merrimount Drive. This 0.3 mile stretch is used by many to access the green space of Homestead Field and as the pedestrian route to downtown. Most importantly, it is frequented by dozens of children walking to West Mercer Elementary or the bus stop at Merrimount Dr. This blind corner is a disaster waiting to happen. The posted speed limit is not adhered to and vehicles regularly cut the curve to save momentum. The school zone speed restriction is not even one full block - the shortest for any school zone on the island. Please come and see for yourself. It is clear - we must protect our children on their way to school with an extended school zone, better signage and road paint that lasts more than a couple of months.

commenting to support a N-S Island Crest Way bike corridor and bicycle facilities in general

Doug MacDonald had a good analysis of e-scooters &c. He was head of WSDOT when I was in the legislature. Read his post to the end. Folks are starting to push back on the e-scooter companies.

On a slightly different tangent: I’ve been disappointed in the new traffic signals Town Center. I’ve found they significantly increase the time it takes to walk from our condo to the P&R. Their design focuses on automobiles to the detriment of pedestrians despite the city’s stated interest in a walkable Town Center. The fixable problem is the left turn signal. It sets priority so in each cycle pedestrians wait for left turning cars. I understand why a traffic engineer would make that choice but it annoys me as a pedestrian. Choosing to have left turning cars wait for pedestrians has little impact on cars but would richly benefit pedestrians.

Council Members:

Islanders have long been dissatisfied with progress on a safe and effective bicycle network. Lack of sufficient infrastructure places very high on the list of resident transportation concerns. Among all of the goals of our Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities Plan, it is vital that the Council prioritize action to complete the following:

• Update the Plan in 2026-2027, as intended

• Complete the Island Crest Way corridor - and connections from this trail to IMS and the Town Center

• Provide protected bicycle infrastructure in Town Center for safe access to businesses and regional transit

• Clearly mark key intersections presenting safety hazards that discourage ridership - e.g. SE 40th and Island Crest Way.

The time is now for the benefits of bicycle and pedestrian transportation - including progress on our climate protection goals.

Thank you.
Carolyn Boatsman

According to the 2024 Community Survey 91% of residents feel safe generally, but only 42% are satisfied with our safe biking facilities. More to the point the condition of bicycle infrastructure is now a top-three streets and infrastructure priority for MI residents.
The city should to prioritize the following:
* Execute the Island Crest Way Corridor: Fully utilize secured grant funding to transform this high-stress corridor. This project must not be an isolated segment; it must be extended to create a seamless connection from Mercer Island Middle School (IMS) to the Town Center.
* Fund Protected "Last-Mile" Links: Prioritize dedicated, separated infrastructure on 77th Ave SE and other Town Center feeder routes to ensure safe access to regional transit.
* Clearly Mark Key Intersections: Designate and mark safe bike passages through high-conflict intersections, such as Island Crest Way and SE 40th Street.
- [ ] Accelerate the PBF Update: Ensure the 2026–2027 update to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities (PBF) Plan remains on track to identify and bridge high-stress gaps.
- [ ] The Comp plans calls for “a pedestrian-friendly and transit-oriented environment" which means one that our most vulnerable cyclists—our children and seniors—should feel safe navigating the entire island.

I am extremely concerned about the Traffic for Mercer Island Residents and Pedestrian injury risk on East Mercer Way. Traffic is already an issue at the intersections between Frontage road and SE 39th during school drop off and pick up hours for FAS, JCC, as well as in the summers for Summer camp/school. Traffic backs up in both Southbound and Northbound directions and often appears to be an accident just waiting to happen. It appears Herzl-Ner Tamid has been permitted to build a pre-K to 8th grade school which will only multiply the traffic with hundreds of additional vehicles entering and exiting the Island on top of actual Mercer Island Residents trying to exit the Island to go to work in the morning or to return home in the afternoon. I agree with many of the comments and suggestions by Ronil below. Something certainly has to be done to provide a solution for the traffic and to minimize safety risks for motor vehicle accidents and pedestrian vs motor vehicle accidents. Is it possible to reroute the JCC/FAS exit directly across from Frontage road/HNT and put up a 4-way stop light at a clear 4-way intersection? Additionally there should be individual extended length left and right turn lanes for each direction along with a main central lane at the intersection.

I am writing to request improvements to East Mercer Way (EMW).

1- Student Safety Crosswalks: School pick-up occurs on the southbound lane of EMW at SE 38th St. There are no sidewalks past the EMW side street (EMW-SS) which is unnamed on the map (it lies between Frontage Road and SE 38th Street) and 38th Street. Students have no safe way to cross the street. The sidewalk needs extending, crosswalks needs to be added (beyond the 2 that exists, and flashing signs need to be added to the area for pedestrians, ideally like the new signs installed in the city center that pedestrians can press to indicate they intend to cross so that traffic can stop. Right now, although there are 2 crosswalks (one just north of EMW-SS and the other just south of EMW-SS), but cars don’t always stop for the pedestrians (either because they don’t see them or because they are driving too fast). This type of signage would also be ideal for SE 38th St, SE 39th St, the unnamed street south of SE 39th St, and SE 40th St. In total, there would be 6 of these flashing pedestrian signs as follows:
a. North of EMW-SS (there’s already a crosswalk here, it just needs a flashing sign)
b. South of EMW-SS (there’s already a crosswalk here, it just needs a flashing sign)
c. Crosswalk and Flashing Sign at SE 38th and EMW
d. Crosswalk and Flashing Sign at SE 39th and EMW
e. Crosswalk and Flashing Sign at the unnamed street south of SE 39th St
f. Crosswalk and Flashing Sign at SE 40th St and EMW
2- Slowing Down Traffic: Vehicles travel over the speed limit along EMW, especially as they are approaching the entrance to I-90. Some form of speed mitigation needs to be implemented. One suggestion: a minimum of 2 speed bumps, one just north of Frontage Rd and one just south of SE 39th St.

3- Managing Ingress & Egress onto EMW (from JCC parking, EMW-SS, & SE 39th St): EMW-SS lies just north of the JCC parking exit. Vehicles exiting the JCC are often seeking to turn north onto EMW. Vehicles traveling along EMW are often traveling over the speed limit. Moreover, traffic has increased in the area. EMW-SS lies just north of the JCC ingress/egress. The vehicles exiting the JCC often turn left (north onto EMW) with disregard to vehicles exiting EMW-SS, even though vehicles turning right (north) from EMW-SS have right of way. Trying to turn onto EMW-SS from EMW also creates challenges. In order to safely do so, one has to station there car in front of the JCC exit and U-turn onto EMW-SS, otherwise the cars exiting the JCC often will try to turn north onto EMW in front of the vehicles turning onto EMW-SS. I have reached out to the JCC on several instances regarding this issue, but each time they have indicated the public roadway is under City of Mercer Island jurisdiction. Therefore, I am requesting that the City of Mercer Island make improvements to the area to mitigate this traffic concern before there’s an accident. Perhaps signage (and the speed bumps in No. 2 above) will help mitigate the situation.
4- Traffic Flow along EMW due to JCC: EMW has one lane northbound and one lane southbound. There is a left turn lane onto SE 36th St. During high use of the JCC, particularly during summer camps, it’s nearly impossible to travel southbound along EMW. EMW is not meant for this level of traffic without modifications.

I agree with many of the other proposals including the Island Crest Way Corridor and adding protected bikeways on major roads such as Island Crest Way and 78th Ave SE.


I also urge the MI City Council to request Metro to terminate the low-ridership route 630 and reinvest all the service hours into making route 204 more frequent. The MI City Council must also urge Metro to change the routing of 204 to better serve MIHS (Mercer Island High School) as currently the bus stop is over half a mile away from the school, a change in routing would massively improve the overall usefulness of the route and boost student ridership. To achieve a "transit-oriented environment" we must make our transit a viable option this means it must be at a usable frequency and serve the destinations that MI residents and students want.

As a more long term plan we must build out and expand our downtown area to allow more residents to be within walking distance to everyday amenities, this will massively reduce overall traffic on the island and allow people who can't drive to be more independent.

Thank you for making Mercer Island a safer more convenient place for all.

We would love to see the school zone extended for West Mercer Elementary on West Mercer way. Our kids and lot of kids in the neighborhood walk to school and we would like the neighborhood to be safe for kids. We would love a crosswalk to cross West Mercer Way safely and metal reflectors that clearly demarcate the sidewalk. There isn’t a sidewalk on west Mercer way and that may be the solution. This will help school kids but everyone else in the neighborhood.

To align our infrastructure with the Comprehensive Plan’s multimodal goals, we ask the Council to prioritize the following:

Accelerate the PBF Update: Ensure the 2026–2027 update to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities (PBF) Plan remains on track to identify and bridge high-stress gaps.

Execute the Island Crest Way Corridor: Fully utilize secured grant funding to transform this high-stress corridor. This project must not be an isolated segment; it must be extended to create a seamless connection from Mercer Island Middle School (IMS) to the Town Center.

Fund Protected "Last-Mile" Links: Prioritize dedicated, separated infrastructure on 77th Ave SE and other Town Center feeder routes to ensure safe access to regional transit.

Clearly Mark Key Intersections: Designate and mark safe bike passages through high-conflict intersections, such as Island Crest Way and SE 40th Street.

Our goal of a "pedestrian-friendly and transit-oriented environment" will only be realized when our most vulnerable cyclists—our children and seniors—feel safe navigating the entirety of the Island.

Thank you for your continued commitment to a safer, more connected Mercer Island.

Please address the safety issues along the West Mercer Way corridor next to West Mercer Elementary. This area between Merrimount and 78th Ave SE has been brought to the attention of the Mercer Island PD, the City, and the School District multiple times by community members over the past 10+ years. This is due to frequent vehicle speeding and lack of safe walking and biking space for children and community members to reach West Mercer Elementary and Homestead Park. The School District installed a solar speed radar sign years ago, which does not function because of lack of sun light. The School District also updated School Zone signage and the City has updated School Zone road painting and years ago put No Parking signs during school hours. However, these efforts have not made the area sufficiently safe for walking and biking. Each time that the police department patrols the zone, they pull over speeding violators. The School Zone is too small to be effective and needs to be extended to 78th Ave SE and Merrimount so that drivers are forced to slow down and to watch for children. There also needs to be dedicated walking and biking areas (such as what is found near Luther Burbank Park on North Mercer Way or sidewalks) that allow children to walk to and from school independently and safely. As it is, parents walk with their children because vehicles do not slow down through the area. The other schools on the island have safe walking and biking routes on the surrounding roads, and lengthier school zones to control traffic.
Even if the School Zone is improved, children and other community members still need to be able to access the park and playground at West Mercer Elementary and Homestead Park. The entire area needs to have the speed clearly reduced to 25mph with traffic mitigation to force vehicles to slow down such as what is seen in similar school areas in Seattle (speed bumps, painted lines, etc.).
It is vital that this West Mercer Way corridor near West Mercer Elementary and Homestead Park is improved so that it is safe for children and all community members. West Mercer Elementary should have the same safe walking and biking routes that other elementary schools on the island have.

I'm urging support for the Island Crest Way Trail. Access to the south end of the island by bicycle is limited to East or West Mercer Ways followed by a significant hill to the shopping center. The Island Crest corridor contains access to many significant island resources--churches, virtually all the public schools, the library--yet it is not safely rideable by bicycle. Seems making access easier would be a genuine benefit to many plus reduce car trips. With electric bicycles becoming way more popular, in the immediate future there will be much more need for safe bicycle routes. Island Crest is the main thorough on the Island and is not safely ridable. Time for a change there.

The city of Mercer Island is actually making it more difficult for Islanders to commute via mass transit with their changes to the permitting in the downtown core for parking and also the open access parking lot where the old Tully's used to be. This parking lot remains mostly empty, derailing the narrative that it is necessary for downtown businesses to thrive. The more pressing need is for Islanders outside of major transit lines to be able to drive to the north end and Park so that they can take mass transit. This lot, which the city owns, should be reserved solely for Islanders. Whether the City charges for this or not is a separate question, but it should be for Islanders only, and in my view that is a non-negotiable ingredient to Islanders being able to take advantage of mass transit.

"[90.20.0022] 77th Avenue SE Channelization (SE 32nd Street to North Mercer Way). The scope is consistent with the current Town Center street standards described in MICC 19.11.120. The 2022 Town Center Parking Study adopted by AB 6369 recommends
studying options for street reconfiguration on 77th Avenue SE as a good candidate but no specific design or timeframe was recommended. The City Council directed staff in Exhibit 2,
AB 6711 | Exhibit 4 | Page 26log #2 of AB 6369 (Summary of Discussion Items + Follow Up Actions) to adjust the scope
of this project if the Council ultimately decides to pursue an alternative design option in the future. This project will remain in the “out-years” as a placeholder until such a decision is made. Alternatively, the Council could choose to remove the project from the TIP, however, it would result in private development projects such as Xing Hua on 77th Avenue SE, north of SE 29th Street to build the code required street improvements along their property
frontage – replace the bike lanes and center turn lane with on-street parking and sharrows. If the project remains in the TIP, developers could pay the City their fair share of the improvement in lieu of building them".

This is from the TIP. I think the city and council have done a good job over the last four years on our infrastructure including trails and roads.

But the key factor going forward we learned from the $500,000 WSDOT grant to improve pedestrian safety through the Lid Park is just how expensive these projects are (even for just mixed use paved trails that are already paved), or can be if the plans become unrealistic (the original request by NIM's was for a separate dedicated bike path running along the east side of the park that would have cost at least $10 million). Just the design cost was over $125,000. Anything that requires design and new concrete will cost a fortune.

Re: the quote above I don't quite understand eliminating the dedicated bike lanes on 77th that are the only dedicated north/south bike lanes to and from the light rail station and south end of the Island through the town center.

There are major intersections along 77th at 29th and 27th, and numerous business driveways including Met Market and McDonalds that create a lot of ingress and egress traffic on 77th plus deliveries. If cars are parked along 77th (and the SEPA review for MICA parking showed a maximum of 37 parking spots being created) they are going to create a blind spot for cars entering and exiting these businesses with bikes riding fast along in the sharrows, especially if the parked vehicles are tall like vans or SUV's, which means there would have to be a no parking zone on either side of each driveway to create sight lines. The issue is cars have to inch into the bike path/sharrows just to see traffic coming along the street (which will be a problem for the north/south "gap" trail on ICW). There will also be significant backups from cars trying to turn left. Imagine 27th with no turn lanes.

This project is based on criteria from long ago. The parking study was updated with the council's recent parking management plan, and work from home has significantly reduced parking pressures from commuters on town center streets. The new lot on the old Tully's property has hardly any cars parked in it, and the park and ride is usually half full on weekdays., 78th is not a good north/south arterial (and should not be used as one), and the Island lost SOV access westbound from ICW due to poor negotiations during the SEPA permitting process for light rail which puts more pressure on 77th.

Finally I would like to see bikes removed from the Lid Park as much as possible and signage that directs bicyclists onto 22nd instead of along a sidewalk on NMW, especially after light rail opens and there could be many bus riders disembarking on the north side of NMW onto the sidewalk to cross NMW to catch the train in a hurry. Using the sidewalk for a mixed use trail for the Sound to Mountains Trail makes little sense, especially since it crosses a park and ride and two very busy lighted intersections. It is very difficult for a car turning onto 81st or from 81st to NMW to identify bicyclists riding fast along the sidewalk while looking for traffic from both directions moving quickly from exiting I-90 westbound.

The city manager during the Aubrey Davis Park Master Plan suggested a bathroom on the far west side of the parking lot in the lower field where the porta potty is today, and I agree that would be a good station for bicyclists crossing the bridge to stop and use the bathroom without creating new impervious surfaces in the park, get water, and for signage directing them onto West Mercer Way toward 22nd rather than into the Lid Park which is really only appropriate for very slow or novice riders.

93rd Ave SE has deteriorated to a condition that warrants immediate repaving. The current state of the roadway poses ongoing concerns for residents and should be addressed without further delay. Prompt action to restore the pavement would improve safety, accessibility, and overall quality of life in the neighborhood.

I've been cycling across the Puget Sound Region for 25 years and on long rides it's always disheartening when I cross the bridge and get back on the island. So little has been done in our community to improve cycling infrastructure or support bike commuting since I moved here. By contrast, when I cycle through the cities around us I'm constantly finding new bits of bike paths, revised signalling, new bike lanes or other improvements. The rest of the region is moving ahead: Mercer Island feels stuck.

If I would focus on one thing it would be creating a safe path along Island Crest Way, filling in the "missing link" between 68th street and 55th. School kids, bike commuters, and recreational cyclists all need a more direct and safer path through this section. The progress announced so far is modest, and the plans are moving ahead at a disturbingly slow speed.

Two things make this gap even worse than before: (a) the availability of e-bikes makes convenient, comfortable bike commuting even more attractive than before and (b) the opening of light rail will dramatically increase the desire for south end residents to make it to the north end without a car.

I know there are plans to address this. They're too modest. They are moving too slow.

Please stop researching and start making community safe biking and walking infrastructure on the island. It's a public island and this talking is taking too long to get er done please:
Completing the North-South Route: Establishing a safe bike route along Island Crest Way and filling the "missing link" between 53rd and 68th.

Intersection Safety: Clearly marking the intersection of Island Crest Way and 40th to safely guide cyclists through the junction.

Building a Connected Network: Fulfilling the City’s Comprehensive Plan by connecting the current "chopped up" segments into a cohesive, island-wide bicycle network.
Thank.you for making the island safe and usable for a healthy happy community of outdoor and fitness lovers. Reduce our Stress!

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.