ST/MI "Connivance" Ends I-90 Bus Routes

This blog started because 3 years of presentations and emails to the Bellevue City Council failed to convince them to disallow permits Sound Transit needed for East Link.  That East Link was part of Sound Transit Prop 1 extensions that will eventually be regarded as one of the biggest boondoggles in history.  Sound Transit made a fatal blunder when they ignored the capacity limits imposed by routing the Prop 1 extensions through the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT). 

They compounded that problem by refusing to add parking for access to even its limited capacity, choosing instead to use it to replace current bus routes, despite the reality reducing the number of buses on HOV lanes will do little to reduce congestion.  Even worse, any riders the extensions add will simply reduce access for current riders.  I’ve filed as a candidate seven times to use the Voters Pamphlet to attract viewers to the blog detailing these problems and intend to file again for King County Council 6^th District. 

East Link is a particularly egregious example.  Sound Transit should have never been allowed to divert half the limited capacity of light rail routed through the DSTT across the I-90 Bridge center roadway. They’ve already devastated the route into Bellevue and the loss of the two center roadway lanes will inevitably result in gridlock on outer bridge roadways.

Again they decided to use East Link to replace I-90 Bridge bus routes. Sound Transit recognized they needed commuters to transfer from buses to East Link since the number of commuters living within walking distance or with parking near light rail stations wasn’t sufficient to fill even East Link’s share of DSTT capacity. (4440 riders per hour (per PSRC)).  

Their solution was to force those riding I-90 buses to transfer to East Link at South Bellevue or Mercer Island light rail stations.   Again not recognizing closing off the I-90 Bridge center roadway and spending $2.8B to replace cross-lake buses will do little to reduce HOV lane congestion.

Sound Transit initially proposed replacing buses to the Mercer Island City Council with a January 21, 2014 Integrated Transit System (ITS) presentation.  It detailed how 40,000 of East Link’s 50,000 daily riders would come from terminating I-90 corridor buses at either South Bellevue or Mercer Island light rail stations. 

However, a Sound Transit presentation to Mercer Island residents, “Completion of final design-- Open House” claimed only 4500 boarders daily would use station.  A subsequent (Nov 19^th) Mercer Island presentation went into considerable details about ITS.  Their preferred approach was for buses to exit I-90 on WB HOV off ramp to a 200 ft drop off and pick-up area on the 80^th Ave overpass before returning to I-90 on EB HOV on ramp.  Sound Transit predicted 84 buses per hour would make the circuit during peak commute.

Mercer Island residents objected to their light rail station being inundated with thousands of transferees every morning and afternoon.  Sound Transit’s response then was they were “up in the air” about terminating bus routes on the island.  However, a year later an October 2015 depiction of East Link showed 3-car trains on the bridge center roadway and a Sound Transit bus on the east bound I-90 bridge outer roadway.  Also, all five of Sound Transit proposals for terminating buses on the island were deemed “no longer under consideration”.

However the March 13, 2019 MI Weekly included notice of a March 19^th Sound Transit presentation of the results of a Mercer Island Transit Interchange Operational and Configuration Study to the City Council.  The study was funded by Sound Transit to:

Explore ways to implement bus/rail integration consistent with the Settlement Agreement between the City of Mercer Island and Sound Transit for the East Link Project.

It’s not clear what was in the 2017 Settlement Agreement but the study title “suggested” the City of Mercer Island had agreed to terminating I-90 bus routes on the island.  What is clear is the study results show the extent to which Sound Transit will go, apparently with Mercer Island concurrence to make up for the lack of commuter access to East Link stations by forcing bus riders to transfer to light rail.  

Again all the initial Sound Transit ITS configurations showed during peak commute 84 buses an hour would use the 80^th Ave overpass to drop off and pick up commuters.  The 84 buses per hour apparently reflected anticipated future growth since currently only 45 buses an hour were routed across I-90 Bridge.  

The Mercer Island Transit Interchange moved the drop-off and pick-up areas from the 80^th Avenue to 77th Avenue SE.  However, rather than the 84 buses per hour as they had originally proposed or even the 45 buses per hour that currently cross I-90 bridge, the Mercer Island Transit Interchange will result in “a 50% reduction in bus volumes relative to existing condition”. 

The bottom line is Sound Transit was so desperate to use bus transit riders to fill East Link trains they’ve agreed to slash current bus routes to appease Mercer Island City Council.  The council allowed Sound Transit to terminate cross-lake buses on the island despite objections from residents.  

There would be no East Link if the Mercer Island City Council (and Bellevue and Redmond councils) had not approved the permits Sound Transit needed.  The I-90 Bridge center roadway would have never been closed, avoiding the inevitable gridlock on I-90 Bridge outer roadways.  However, the Mercer Island City Council could have sued Sound Transit to at least prevent them from inundating the island with thousands of bus transferees each morning and afternoon.  Instead the Mercer Island Transit Interchange agreement limits I-90 Bridge transit capacity to East Link's share of DSTT capacity, the equivalent of about 50 high capacity buses an hour.  Thus, the current agreement with Sound Transit to halve I-90 bus routes simply hastens that reality. 

The entire east side will pay a heavy price for their "connivance".