Mercer Island caught in middle of I-90 tolling debate

BY Chris Sullivan  on January 29, 2013 @ 4:59 am (Updated: 5:30 pm - 1/29/13 )

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Tolling the one and only way on and off the island does not sit well with residents. "No tolling" signs litter the island. (KIRO Radio Photo/Dave Ross) | Zoom
The state doesn't have the money to finish the 520 Bridge project. It is more than a billion dollars short. So the state wants to toll I-90 to pay for it.

That doesn't sit well with drivers around the region and especially the 22,000 people who live on Mercer Island who have no other way to get to and from their homes.

The state Department of Transportation is making its pitch to cities served by I-90 this week. The Washington State Department of Transportation's John White was in Seattle Monday saying the state needs to toll I-90 or the 520 Bridge project won't be completed. "We are looking at full tolling of I-90," White told the Seattle City Council.

Turning the HOV lanes on I-90 into toll lanes is also being considered, but it isn't going to be enough to cover the shortfall so that state needs to toll the entire stretch across Lake Washington: from Bellevue to Seattle.

On Tuesday afternoon on Mercer Island, WSDOT was facing a packed house full of angry people. Tolling the one and only way on and off the island does not sit well with residents. "No tolling" signs litter the island. City councilmember Mike Cero said people living on the island can't afford a tax like that. "The normal household with kids in the schools they'll run up a tab of $5,000 to $8,000 with a potential toll."

Cero believes that will force some to move, depressing home values, and businesses which rely on off-island customers will disappear. "They won't come to Mercer Island to save a little money at the thrift store or to buy their glasses at Mercer Island Eyeworks."

For Cero, this is not just a Mercer Island issue. "This is a regional issue, and Mercer Island has the same interest that Bellevue, Sammamish and Issaquah do," he said. .

What about the freight haulers, Cero asks? They don't use 520. They use I-90 to get to the Port. They have no other options either.

But as John White said - tolling is the direction WSDOT is going. The gas tax just doesn't do it anymore. "It's all going to be about user-fees going forward," he said.

The state is holding these public meetings around the region this year, and it will present its findings to the legislature. Lawmakers will decide in 2014 whether or not to place tolls on I-90.

Chris Sullivan, KIRO Radio Reporter
Chris loves the rush of covering breaking news and works hard to try to make sense of it all while telling stories about real people in extraordinary circumstances.
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Comments (32)


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  • seattle-bob wrote...
    Just say no
    January 29, 2013 1:03 pm
    This is incompetence of the highest order and a classic case of bait and switch. Surely the research showed what proportion of drivers would abandon 520 and therefore at what level the tolls shoud be set to achieve the revenue required. To now simply pass this off to I-90 drivers is crass indeed. Please show up and vote this down.
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  • Str8Thinking wrote...
    I thought Interstate highways couldn't be turned into toll ways
    January 29, 2013 2:25 pm
    Of course I read it on the internet so shame on me for paying any attention to it. If tolling on I90 fails to bring in the revenue we could just cancel the whole 520 project and build more bike lanes somewhere.
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  • Rangerhawk wrote...
    If only WA Dems could do what DC Dems can do
    January 29, 2013 6:19 pm
    They could just make your kids pay for it. Im surprised they havn't voted to abolish all budgets and replace them with "Hope and Change Economics" at the state level.
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  • calapete wrote...
    Its your choice to live on the East side, why should I have to pay for your commute?
    January 30, 2013 5:36 am
    not so nice is it? As a ferry commuter, I have this thrown in my face often.

    back at ya Mercer Island. Welcome to the club. At least you won't have to rely on a Washington State Ferry and pay $25 round trip to take your car.

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