Vision Mercer Island

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"Nowhere else in the US exists such a large, populated Island wedged between a major metro core and its close suburbs, connected only by a primary interstate. This obviously presents unique transportation challenges, and Mercer Island has longstanding contractual rights because of this." – Lori Otto Punke                Prior to coming to Seattle, I spent 15 years of honorable service in the United States Army. I’ve served on the front lines in Kosovo and Iraq and even treated casualties at the Pentagon on September the 11th, 2001. People in my line of work don’t scare easily. But what does scare me is the prospect of losing mobility.” - Dr. Ben Starnes, Mercer Island resident and Chief of Vascular Surgery, Harborview and UW Medicine     “I am very concerned that traffic will negatively impact the quality of education on Mercer Island, which was one of the major draws for many families to live on Mercer Island. The number of teachers in Mercer Island schools that actually live on Mercer Island is in the single digits, down from nearly 40 percent just ten years ago. This means that the overwhelming majority of teachers, administrations, and staff need to use I-90 to commute to their places of work and to educate MI students. …Decreased access to and from Mercer Island will make it harder for us to attract and keep high quality teachers in our classrooms, as they will have to spend more time on an already busy commute, and more expensive for kids to have enriching opportunities when they travel off the island. Traffic is already bad, and I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse.” - Denise Thomas former Mercer Island school teacher and current Mercer Island resident    “My wife and I have lived on Mercer Island for 40 years. We raised our children here and now our kids are raising our grandchildren here. I am founder and owner of RKK Construction, a regional custom home builder, based on Mercer Island. Mobility is essential for my business and my employees. When I look at the transportation issues before us, I see a complex, interconnected set of decisions and policies. The I-90 corridor is critical to our whole regional system. Ensuring mobility on, off and around Mercer Island means we’re keeping traffic flowing on I-90, which is a win for everyone. I’m glad to see this public input process and I hope that people can sit down and negotiate an intelligent deal. Because what we do today will impact our mobility for decades to come. It isn’t just critical to my business and Mercer Island, it is critical for the region.“ - Randy Koehler, Mercer Island resident and president RKK Construction    “Our employees and members commute to the J from all over the metro area via cars, carpools and buses. 1-90 traffic is so bad it's impacting our business. Last month a promising young teacher reluctantly backed out of accepting a job after a test run of her commute from Seattle to Mercer Island. I am also concerned for the safety of our employees who walk over 30 minutes each way, often in the dark to and from the Park & Ride, since the bus route on 36th was closed quite some time ago. Regularly, preschooler parents arrive to drop- off and pick up their children weary from the commute and significantly increased traffic both on 1-90 and in our Town Center.” - Judy Neuman, CEO Strom Jewish Community Center

Contact

Contact Details

  • (253) 470-6543
  • visionmercerisland@gmail.com
  • www.visionmercerisland.com

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In the News

  • Moving remarks at Sound Transit Open House
  • Transportation Changes coming to Mercer Island
  • Sound Transit's 'Listen to Mercer' tour kicks off
  • Vision MI to ‘teach’ about transportation
  • New vision for transportation solutions

Our Latest

  • An Open Letter from Vision Mercer Island about the MI-Sound Transit Tentative Settlement June 3, 2017
  • Mercer Island-Sound Transit Term Sheet June 1, 2017
  • Commuters Beware Infographic May 30, 2017

Useful Links

  • Upcoming Construction Closures
  • I-90 Traffic Webcams


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Vision Mercer Island is a community organization supported by private citizens and residents of Mercer Island.
Lori Otto Punke, Island resident, is the executive director of Vision Mercer Island.

VisionMercerIsland@gmail.com
(253) 470-6543
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