King County Assessor and More on ICW

Before we get into the Assessor’s race, an update on the most contested race on the Island this election year: the race for City Council Position #2. No fewer than 6 former Mercer Island mayors (including Fred “loved by all” Jarrett) sent a letter endorsing Grausz as a good guy on the Council and Ira as a rabble-rouser who uses scare tactics.

Meanwhile, Ira has expanded his single-issue “No Road Diet” campaign to include opposition to any tolling on I-90. And he sent a letter too.

And Now, Assessing the Assessor

The King County Assessor race probably falls into the less interesting of the ballot items this November, but it’s important to homeowners. The Assessor is the one whose office tells you how much your property is worth in the eyes of the county and therefore, how much you’ll pay in taxes. This is an off-schedule election due to recent turmoil in the Assessor’s office.

I’ve narrowed down the candidates based on the Seattle Municipal League’s ratings because, frankly, it’s Sunday night and I’m tired. So here are the 3 rated “Good” or “Very Good” by the League:

• Lloyd Hara, Seattle Port Commissioner, who’s running on his management experience
• Bob Rosenberger, Retired Deputy Assessor who’s running on his experience as an Assessor and as part of the Assessor’s office
• Graham Albertini, Appraiser and teacher of Appraisers

All have some kind of fairness or current value language in their platforms, referring to assessing real values instead of the real estate peak. Rosenberger also talks about “reducing exemptions” that shift the burden to normal taxpayers. Based on the candidates’ statements and their experience, I’ll vote for Rosenberger though Lloyd Hara would probably be a good Assessor as well.

Aside: What the Assessor’s Taxes Pay For

The Assessor’s race is also important to anyone with kids in the local schools, because it was a fall in tax revenues that caused $2.4 million in cuts to Mercer Island schools this year. The Mercer Island Schools Foundation helped to partly address with $1 million in fundraising, about half of which went directly to saving 5.4 teaching positions. The organization doing a phone-a-thon Oct. 26th and 27th, so expect to hear from them.

Transportation Issues Wrap-Up

Trains (aka Light Rail)

The Bellevue Reporter has a good article on the options for the light rail routes on the East Side. Mostly the article concerns where the train will go in Bellevue and Redmond,  since the decision on Mercer Island is trivial. If you plan to be traveling to Bellevue in 2023 when the East Link is complete, read this.

Sound Transit’s simulation of Light Rail over I-90.

Buses

In more near-term news, Mercer Island’s own Fred Jarrett argues in Crosscut for a more metric-driven approach to planning transit: basically, cut service where it’s not working and don’t cut where it is. (The fiscal reality is that Metro has to cut somewhere.) The current system promises quantity of service by region: 20% Seattle, 40% East Side, and 40% South King County.

In Fred’s own words, why to shift Metro away from regional allocation:

“Measuring effort by neighborhood benefits no one moving between neighborhoods. Further, it has created a system that measures effort rather than performance and results in unacceptability high costs by almost every measure. The Municipal League has documented the agency’s high cost per mile. While that figure is troubling, the high cost per rider is cause for even greater alarm as it clearly indicates that the system’s routes aren’t as productive as they should be.”

Nicely said, Fred.

Cars

So different, yet so much the same.

A bubbling issue relevant only on our own Island is whether Island Crest Way should go to 3 lanes south of 40th or stay at 4 lanes. We’ve been debating this so long it’s becoming our very own Alaskan Way Viaduct. For those who don’t follow city politics or drive, the Alaskan Way situation has been debated since it was damaged in the 2001Nisqually Earthqauke until finally a resolution was reached in 2009– a resolution since reopened in the Seattle mayoral race.

What’s driving the Island Crest Way issue is the intersection at Merrimount, which had been the Island’s most dangerous intersection and now has temporary traffic control. This issue deserves its space– watch for a post soon.

I-90 Closures Start Today

A reminder that today I-90 closures start, funneling all Westbound drivers into the Express Lanes. Several on/off ramps will also be closed for a couple of weeks.

According to the handy WSDOT “What’s Happening Now” page, commuting from I-405 to Rainier Ave is taking about 31 minutes. Or check the traffic map, which tells the story:

Bike commuting is a good option, so is changing your hours. Anyone brave rush hour today and got stories to tell of it? I’ll also be posting photos as I get them.

Tribute to the I-90 Bridge on its 69th (and Warnings)

The tribute is not mine, in this case. I’ve written about out the good old bridge plenty. But Dusty Moments wrote a nice tribute, complete with a photo full of atmosphere, on the occasion of the original bridge’s opening in 1940.

Photo by Dan Williams, Dusty Moments blog.

And the warnings are more like reminders, of closures that affect our bridge to the rest of the world:

• This weekend, the 520 bridge will be closed from 11 pm Friday night to 5 am Monday morning. Expect higher-than-normal traffic on I-90.
• Starting July 5, the Westbound lanes will be closed for 3 weeks. All Westbound traffic will go into the Express lanes. Expect longer delays than during the May closures, since more lanes will be closed.

I-90 Closures Start Today

Today starts three weeks of Express Lane closures, with another closure to come in July. Here’s a look at repairs to the highway that connects us Islanders to the rest of civilization.

“We Put this Off As Long as We Can”

First, click to go to the Bellevue Reporter to see a video about the repairs:

Useful Info from the DoT

Next, the FAQs from the Department of Transportation.

Finally, a Plan

jputnam’s back at it again, he and his helmet cam taking on the bike commute over I-90. If the weather’s good, this may be your best bet to get out of traffic during the closures.

Or, you could just take the month off. Happy bridge closures!

Light Rail AND Carpool Lanes?

The Seattle Times reports that the state budget restored money for carpool lanes over I-90. This should quiet a lot of the opposition to light rail over I-90. It may also keep traffic moving, since the lanes must be in place before tracks can go over the Express Lanes. If you haven’t been following, there’s been a debate over how to compensate for the loss of the Express Lanes to Light Rail.

In other transportation news, the City’s seeking comment on the 2010-2015 transportation plan– find details and send comments here. And for inspiration, here’s the current plan of street improvements (click for pdf):

There’s a lot of work in Mid-Island, especially around the troublesome intersection at Merrimount Way.

Now let’s look at the history of street resurfacing- fun!

If you got a kick out of this post, you should definitely comment on the plan.

Bridge Closures and Phantom Trains

Ouch– I-90’s going to be restricted or closed quite a bit over the coming months:

• May 4 to May 23: Express Lanes closed (otherwise known as the Light Rail Construction Preview Period)
• July 5- July 28: All 3  Westbound lanes closed

In other transportation news, the Seattle Times speculates that Seattle will get some of the $8bn that Obama set aside in the Stimulus Plan for high-speed rail. There’s no indication that this area will be a big focus of that spending (or that it won’t), but everyone likes to hear about spending these days. This could create another phantom train– much talked about, much planned and a little less-than-fully-budgeted-for train system engenders so much debate that it almost seems real before its even built. Light rail over Mercer Island by 2023!

Where’s the train?

Photo: David Sherret on Flickr.

HOV Lanes or Light Rail? Your Thoughts Please

There’s a fiery new debate about light rail over Mercer Island. Judy Clibborn is standing right next to it with a can of kerosine. If you haven’t heard, Judy is proposing that we not begin light rail until we have HOV lanes across I-90 (the express lanes are to be used for the light rail). Of course, if you’ve seen the system map, you know that I-90 is the critical link in the regional light rail plan, connecting Seattle and the East side.
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It may seem that since voters approved Light Rail in Prop 1 last November, and since it’s mostly funded, it’s a done deal. That does not seem to be the case.

The main issue seems to be timing: does light rail happen before or after there’s an alternate HOV solution for Mercer Island? But in politics, a delay can often lead to major changes or death for a plan. The Seattle Times suggests that’s the motivation of many in the state legislature.

I wish I could add a cool survey plugin, but we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way. Add a comment if you’re in favor of HOV lanes first, or just getting on with light rail over I-90.

Photo credit: To potunasalad for I-90 and Bejan for light rail.

Mercer Island State Senator Fred Jarrett Running for King Co Exec

Former Mercer Island Councilman and now State Senator Fred Jarret threw down for King Co. Executive a few weeks ago, after Ron Sims accepted a position in the Obama administration.

Fred says on his website: “Even if I decided to run, I am prohibited from doing so during the legislative session.” But it seems to be a done deal.

Also on the website I found this nice photo of the candidate. It’s much better than most of his headshots.

An important political skill is to look great next to cute kids.

No editorializing from me this time. Instead, editorializing from others:

• Slog (The Stranger’s blog) calls Jarrett the “anti-Seattle candidate.”
• The Seattle Transit blog doesn’t like Jarrett’s position on I-90 Express Lanes (he wants to keep them).
• Publicola also thinks Jarrett will have a hard time with Seattle voters.

If Fred wins, it’ll be another step in Mercer Island’s plan for Puget Sound domination.

Oregon Likes Our Bridge

I was delighted to see this enthusiastic review of the I-90 bridge bike path, by the Oregonian. Excerpt:

“The crossing of Mercer Island is through a string of neighborhoods and pleasant parks, though the bike path is a bit confusing as it joins the sidewalk to pass in front of the island’s park and ride.

They’re right- it’s a nice bike lane. I couldn’t help but feel a little proud, even though I had nothing to do with the design or construction of the bridge. Even the Blue Angels love it:

A Blue Angel at Seafair this year, getting about as close to the bike lane as you can in a plane.

Bonus Link: Santa Fe Follows Mercer Island’s Lead

In more random news from places that are not Mercer Island, the Political Ticker reports that the New Mexico Sun News called the election for Obama. If you’ll remember, this blog did just that a few weeks ago, based on the number of political signs up for Obama. We restricted our headline to Mercer Island, but we were glad to get out in front of the number of news outlets and blogs that calling the election.