Crews Race to Complete Town Center Projects as City Eyes Light Rail Future

Patrick Yamashita, an engineer from Mercer Island, mentioned that the city has been preparing for the arrival of Sound Transit’s light rail in the region for many years. The station, located opposite the park and ride, is ready and awaiting the completion of East Link, expected later this year.

A host of projects in the nearby Town Center area have either been completed or are in progress in the crosswalk, sidewalk construction, ADA-accessible curb ramps, street lighting, traffic signal and parking realms.

"We have concentrated our efforts mainly on enhancements aimed at assisting pedestrians in reaching and departing from the light rail station safely and more efficiently across the Town Center," Yamashita stated.

When looking back at previous initiatives, Yamashita mentioned that teams put in place a mid-block marked crosswalk close to the Aljoya retirement community on 76th Avenue Southeast equipped with a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB), which signals drivers about pedestrians crossing. Additionally, they set up two further RRFB systems along 77th Avenue Southeast and Sunset Highway, elevated the intersection area, and included wheelchair ramps as well as landing spaces on each corner.

“The purpose of raising the intersection is to slow down or calm traffic,” Yamashita said. “Because this is close to the light rail station entrance, there is going to be a lot of traffic and there’s also going to be a lot of pedestrians. We wanted to improve safety for the pedestrians.”

Yamashita expressed his delight at seeing everyone make use of the recent enhancements throughout Town Center.

Today, along the eastern stretch of 80th Avenue Southeast—from Southeast 32nd Street down to Southeast 27th Street—teams are constructing a fresh sidewalk, incorporating new wheelchair-friendly curb ramps at intersections, setting up modern streetlights, replanting the trees that were cut down, and improving these sections through additional greenery and plants.

The outdated sidewalk was quite narrow and had risen significantly in several spots because of big tree roots pushing up and cracking the pavement," explained Yamashita. "So an upgrade is necessary. We're designing larger planting areas which will provide extra room for root expansion without affecting the walkway. The aim is to safeguard the sidewalk while also supporting robust, sizable trees.

Yamashita added that crews will also be replacing the sidewalk on 78th Avenue Southeast in front of Newell Court that was damaged by tree roots.

The complete project, which started towards the end of last year, is expected to be finished by this summer.

Construction activities continue at the new commuter parking lot located on Southeast 27th Street and Sunset Highway, previously known as the Tully’s location, along with the Signal system installed by Sound Transit at 80th Avenue Southeast. This development, expected to wrap up by late June, includes plans for 35 parking spots, bicycle stands, secure bike storage facilities, and enhanced green spaces. Additionally, Sound Transit is working on improving traffic signals at North Mercer Way/76th Avenue Southeast near the entrance ramp to Interstate 90 heading westward.

The city has an ongoing program to replace and upgrade ADA ramps throughout the Island, and the entirely grant-funded traffic signal safety improvements focus on installing ADA-compliant pedestrian sign push buttons.

The municipality plans to convert the current mid-block crosswalk located close to the drive-through Starbucks on Southeast 27th Street into a RRFB and improve the present ADA-compliant ramps sometime between 2025 and 2026.