Mercer Island leaders ask feds to put brakes on I-90 tolling proposal
MERCER ISLAND, Wash. - The state's proposal to toll Interstate 90 across Lake Washington is not sitting well with Mercer Island officials, and they're not wasting any time voicing their concerns with federal and state leaders.
Earlier this week the city sent a letter to the Federal Highway Administration asking them to hold off on authorizing the tolling plan altogether.
"We want to make sure the Federal Highway Administration understands the legality of approving tolls and the significance," said Noel Treat, deputy city manager for Mercer Island. "From what we understand, this is the first time an interstate could be tolled to pay for a completely separate state project."
City officials believe tolling a federal interstate to pay for an unrelated project could set a national precedent - something they want the federal administration to evaluate. On its website, WSDOT explains how tolls collected from I-90 would help offset the $1.4 billion budget shortfall for State Route 520.
The city hired Seattle-based law firm Calfo Harrigan Leyh & Eakes to consider possible litigation against WSDOT.
Mercer Island officials do not agree tolling should be approved or even considered before an environmental review is completely finished.
The environmental review looks at a variety of issues regarding tolling, including: why it's being proposed, how it would be implemented, how it would affect traffic on I-90 and other routes, how it would affect surrounding communities, potential environmental effects on the local economy, and what can be done to avoid or minimize any impacts found.
"We still want to see in WSDOT's study the whole range of alternatives in mitigation explored," Treat said. "We are really hoping the state will take a step back and really look at the broader impact tolling would create."
Lawmakers from the 41st Legislative District are holding two town hall meetings this Saturday to talk about issues affecting Mercer Island residents. Treat believes a number of citizens concerned with the state's tolling proposal will attend the meetings and share their concerns with state leaders. Details about each of the meetings can be found online.
Ya votes for tax and spend Liberals (like Judy Clibborn), ya gets higher taxes, tolls and lots of "investments".
Now the Mercer Island Delegation is scrambling to appease their Leftist Caucus in Olympia while trying to appear like they oppose I-90 tolling. For all you MI SUV Liberals who voted for Clibborn and all things Democratic, you get what you deserve.
Doesn't seem reasonable for the state to attempt to charge people using I-90 for the DOT's incompetence rebuilding 520.Â
What a bunch of bleeding hearted hypocrites. They vote every year for the Taxen to they are broke Democrats that are pushing for the very taxes that they now do not want to payâ¦. You asked for them now pay them!!
I always find it funny that while driving by a construction site, i'm giving them a break like the stickers say, but i don't need to, because they're always giving themselves a break. At least half of them anyways. I'm sure we need 40 people on a project, but my question is, why are only 10 of them working? Better yet, why do our state politicians always need more money for a project, but they never have leftover money? Did i just answer my own question? There's a few senators in congress that actually gave money back to the system because they didn't need to spend it all. But i guess they aren't idiots, like our guys. Here is just another example of how government never does anything right and shouldn't try to involve itself in work that private industry should be bidding on! End the government control of all the functions of the transportation system, for crying out loud! Privatize it or franchise it.
Some people are misunderstanding some of my posts and thought I was dividing the cities, about they-east, us-west, them-north, those-south, etc.I am just saying I know people who live on the west side who couldnât afford the 520 toll and had to either go I-90, around the lake, or avoid going east overall.Just to be fair, state tax dollars did pay for part of the new I-90 bridge, so tolling I-90 will just be paying back the state tax payers the portion used to build the I-90 bridge.I am sure most of the people complaining about the toll of the I-90 bridge will think differently if they live closer to 520 and seeing I-90 who also used state tax dollars can ride across for free.I do not live close to the 520 or I-90 bridges, but know people from both east and west sides.
Have you noticed? Our state's politicians have TAX AMNESIA? Each and every time we put gas in our tanks we PAY 37.5 CENTS PER GALLON! Not once have I read this! They want you to FORGET that they are already mismanaging the "revenue" they already receive! They are also the reason this revenue has dropped off! Each electric and hybrid car uses less fuel, and they didn't realize they were pushing for the very thing that would decrease their revenue! We have already PAID for I-90! And for all the nincompoops that say that the "rich" people who live on Mercer Island can afford it... HELLO! I-90 doesn't just run to Mercer Island to Seattle does it! Perhaps you could pull up Mapquest and get a clue! I-90 runs just a TAD FARTHER EAST THAN MERCER ISLAND!!!  Â
@Eastside Mom Ah yes but if you travel via I90 east you will find that parts of it are tolled. Gotta love toll plazas.Â
@PrairieDawn @Eastside Mom Well, thankfully, I don't live THAT far east! ;)
So far they could have fed most of Africa with the money they've spent to avoid $2.00 tolls. Really Mercer Island residents?? You're this terrible??
Since WSDOT has made a fiasco of 520, THEY need to fix it.Â
DO NOT TOLL I-90 TO FIX OTHER PROBLEMS!
If the idiots would just cut the 520 tolls in half more people would use it and the lower fares would actually rake in more money. I'm not driving across the %&cking thing if it's $5 at rush hour. If it were half of that then I would because the extra time and gas to avoid the bridge wouldn't be worth it.
People living in Mercer Island who can't afford to pay for the toll can stay on the eastside, just like the people on the westside (Seattle) who currently can't afford to pay the 520 toll may choose to stay on the westside (work, recreational, etc.).People in Seattle are doing that now, so why canât Mercer Island people who canât afford it go to hospitals, restaurants, work, play, etc., on the eastside.Seattle is accommodating, you can too.
@whatithink Newsflash! I-90 actually runs just a TAD FARTHER EAST THEN MERCER ISLAND!!! Not ALL Eastsiders are wealthy... and not every family that lives on Mercer Island is wealthy! We (citizens) have already paid for I-90! If you want the Eastsiders to "stay on our side of the water" well, that is exactly what we'll do... and I don't think your businesses on the Westside will be too happy about that scenario... but that is exactly what I plan on doing if this toll on I-90 goes through! AND I am not alone! I've talked to so many people that just say they'll just adapt and NOT go west!  Â
@whatithink That is a ridiculous comparison and also false. I know plenty of people who have started taking I-90 because of the tolling on SR520. Just because YOU don't come to the eastside doesn't mean others do not.Â
Did the Federal Tax dollars paid for the full price in building the I-90 bridge? I thought the Washington State tax payers paid for the remaining part of the I-90 bridge. The I-90 bridge needs maintenance, the new toll can pay for maintaining the new I-90 bridge, as well as paying back the Washington State tax portion paid to built the new I-90 bridge. Why is it ok for Washington State taxes to pay for building the new I-90 bridge, but not ok to pay for any portion to build the new 520 bridge. Regardless of it being an Interstate, in which the Federal tax covered part of that, now the new toll can be used as future and pay back to the Washington State tax payers.
Tolling I 90 is one of the worst ideas ever! It will create a horrible mess on 405 on both ends. Everybody will try to go around, espeacialy the trucks. The trucks that do use either 520 or 90 will have to charge it to the customer. Which gets charged on through the chain to us the shoppers. Prices will go up all the way around. Our taxes at the pump are supposed to go to road improvements. Next thing you know we will be like states back east where most major highways become toll roads.
Letâs see $5 toll or the truck drives around down 405 back up I-5 to get to the Seattle docks. Truck driver uses $10 dollar's in extra fuel to save a $5 toll not to mention the extra 30 minutes of his time wasted. SEC Rules you have got to be a politician that lives on Mercer Island!
@komonews nah, just cancel the SR-99 Tunnel instead
Just think of the bridge toll as being like the Ferry fares I pay to and from our island. You pay for what you use. Seems fair to me.
@albion You chose to live on an island and the ferries have been around for many years. Two ways off the island. Take the ferry or drive around.
How much were the tolls when I-90 was rebuilt a few years back? ZERO!!! You know the road that cost 8 BILLION dollars and at the time was the most expensive road ever built in the USA. But they should have been ZERO because that road benefitâs Mercer Island unlike 520.
@MKCJ That is a damned good point. They got their's so f*** everybody else.
Hummm...what's next, tolling JBLM's runway?
Until recently there could be no new tolls on interstate highwaysÂ
unless those tolls were used ONLY for improvements andÂ
maintenance of the section of road tolled
It would have been appropriate for the Feds to ban any toll on I-90Â
unless those tolls were used for improvements on the section of
the section tolled. Legislatures saw a chance to toll existing roads
as an income source for other spending and passed changes to theÂ
law. (High spending Democrats and a couple of liberal membersÂ
of the GOP )
I think the answer is to put those changes to the test through
the US Supreme Court and see if they are in fact legal.
I like the idea of a toll on I-90 to pay for those improvements, because unlike the residents of Mercer Island, I won't get any use out of them since I live in Gig Harbor. When the state put the idea of everyone paying for a 2nd Narrows Bridge to a vote years ago, these same Mercer Island folks along with the rest of Seattle decided that we should pay those tolls because they weren't going to use the bridge anyway. Well, once legislators find a path to a tax, they'll always look that way when in need, and this is a good way to make sure that those benefiting from the improvements pay the lions share, and since I'm stuck with paying those daily tolls myself, I feel no sympathy for them, and rather like the idea of having some company.
@CannedLaughter Once again... I-90 just doesn't benefit ONLY the Mercer Island residents! It actually runs clear across our entire country... it is an INTERSTATE HIGHWAY. No, I don't live on Mercer Island... much farther east. Our tax dollars have already paid for our I-90 bridge, and I would hope that when your Narrows Bridge is paid for, that you would like that toll to cease! If I were you, I would be very worried that these same politicians that you're rooting for "sticking it to the Eastsiders" will NEVER give up the revenue they receive from you! That Narrow Bridge toll will NEVER end! You can not trust these politicians! Â
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 @CannedLaughterThe difference is, you benefited from the project that created the tolls on the Narrows Bridge. How are the people who live on Mercer Island going to benefit from paying for 520?
â@komonews: Mercer Island leaders ask feds to put brakes on I-90 tolling proposal komonews.com\/news\/local\/Merâ¦26Bâ - ah, BOTH bridges tolled?
Right now, only the rich take 520 (not on a bus) so...
Suggestion: RAISE the price of going over 520 substantially (like $20/one way). Then allow for discounts based on income level. Adjust the sliding scale so the normal people can afford to cross it, and get the traffic back on 520 (from other routs). You can then tax the people that can aford it (they are going to use it anyway), and more people will use it, rather than driving around.
@Bomarc Raise it that high and not even lawyers will drive across it.
The problem with taxing roads is that a lot of the people take alternate routes. I heard recently that the City of Kenmore is looking at their options because traffic on SR522 has increased a bunch since the tolls went on the 520 bridge. I say tax tires, fuel, wiper blades, etc, and RAISE BUS FARES to a level that pays for the transit system and give me back my $20/car. Buses are only useful to people that go downtown. They should be paying their share (Yet, another case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.)
@MajorSkeptic How about reduce the number of big budget projects?
Right now: I-90, Tacoma Narrows, Seawall, Snoqualmie pass, I-5 at Portland, I-5 at (north of) Tacoma...
@Bomarc @MajorSkeptic reduce big budget projects and??? wait for bridges to completely fail ?Â
@Bomarc Narrows Bridge is done. You want them to undo it and get a refund?Â
@NBA_Is_Useless 1) The Narrows bridge isn't slated to fail. 2) Snoqualmie pass isn't slated to fail.3) I-5 at Portland isn't slated to fail.
And... as to the bull story about the 520 "may fail at a 6.x earthquake."Question to WSDOT engineers: What can the existing bridge take in the way of an earthquake?Answer: We don't know, we haven't tested it".Thatâs right, the DONâT KNOW.The whole story (and video) about the 520 bridge âmight failâ was just to scare folks like you.(Translation: It might fail at a 6.x, it might not.It might work just fine.)So, with all the construction that isn't going to fail, why are we taking on so much construction?
I-90 was built with federal funds and is a federal highway so the state of Wa. should have no claim to put a toll on it for any purpose. If people are doing an end run around their toll booth's then tough luck, but that is not an excuse to slap a toll on I-90
@LongBeachBum Then let's stop tolling 520 too and just tax everyone since externalized costs are very real and impacting others.
@LongBeachBum You don't remember the old toll plaza on I-90 do you?
The state and WSDOT asking for more monies is rather comical since these clowns can't even find what they have already spent on projects...
One other thing - both political parties are responsible for this.
Sorry Namo. You can make that argument on the national scale. But here in WA the Dems have been in charge for 30 years.  This lands SQUARELY in their court.
Any of you driven around Chicago? Â I grew up in Illinois just outside of Chicago - under the old Daley Sr. Â There isn't an interstate around Chicago that I know of that isn't tolled. Â The tolls were meant to maintain roads, but God only knows what the state of Illinois actually did with the money because they sure didn't maintain their roads and highways. Â And, as of now, Illinois is the most broke state in the USA (to the tune of $98 billion). Â The state of Washington is simply following the lead of the most corrupt state in the union. Â I honestly can't understand why people still live in Illinois. Â The politics and state government are extremely oppressive. Â But Illinois is in the business of exporting their style of politics elsewhere as well. Â And clearly, Washington state is open to learning from these thugs. Â After all, the politicians livelihoods depend on it.
Take a close look at what goes on in Illinois and I have no doubt you'll see gross similarities to what's happening here. Â That includes the current 520 bridge expansion fiasco...Â
Thank goodness leaders with brains. Obviously WDOT have no clue. Why do we have people leading a WDOT that are not elected or approved by voters, the people who actually pay the bills
People don't want to face reality. Â
If you keep voting down a progressive state income tax, you will continue to get more and more regressive taxation. Washington is going to get the money either way. When the most wealthy among us are shielded from paying income tax, all of you make up the difference. Essentially, this state is headed towards a Paul Ryan budget way of things. Austerity and tax increases for the masses and let the trickle down work its magic.  Â
Probably the reason most of us don't want a state income tax is because even then they would still keep all of the current taxes in place and our state income tax would keep going up, up, up. The reality is our government needs to learn to live within a budget and quit taking on more projects that there isn't any funding for. Giving this state an income tax would be like handing them a blank check and believe me they wouldn't have to think twice about using it that way.
@lakeview A word to the wise you tax happy fool. If we let in a state income tax then they will have both hands in our pockets and we can rival California with their combined %50 tax rate. YOU WANT THAT????
Probably not long until there is a shiny new toll camera pointing down my private driveway.
I think tolling one highway to pay for another is a horrible precedent to set both locally and nationally and I hope this does not go through just because of that. Â Maybe if WSDOT didn't already royally screw up the 520 project there wouldn't be $1B in shortfall. Â Heads need to roll at WSDOT.
@ktmchick Totally disagree.
Paying for one with a toll on the other recognizes the reality of economic substitutes.  Quit pretending like portions of integrated transportations structures stand alone. They don't.Â
@ktmchick Actually, so far WSDOT's mistakes on the new 520 have only cost about half of the $200 million contingency fund. Again, I agree that heads need to roll over the contractor, but that's a separate issue.
@svensson @ktmchick Either way, $100 million is a lot of wasted money due to poor project management and mistakes.
@ktmchick @svensson Give me a fraction of the 100 million and you won't see or hear from me again.