The proposed Sunset interchange project would include a 1.5-mile stretch of road designed to relieve Downtown traffic. Current counts place about 20,000 cars each day clogging the main North-South arterial, Front Street.
City officials are pinning their hopes on the project as a way out of its serious traffic snarls because until the traffic issues can be resolved, further development in the area will be severely restricted. Darkening the cloud passing over the proposed project are the objections of environmentalists concerned with the stretch of wetlands that would need to be crossed by the bypass to link Issaquah-Hobart Road to Interstate 90.
The situation is such that one city employee told GlobeSt.com the outlook for the project is not good. "It's looking like the bypass won't get the go-ahead," says the source speaking on anonymity. "And that's a real problem for the traffic—all the projections we're using now make the assumption that bypass gets built."
In a study completed more than a year ago, the city pinpointed nine traffic-failure points in its streets. Until the traffic issues can be resolved, new construction can create no more than three peak evening traffic trips.
Thus far, costs for the environmental impact statement for the bypass have run $2.3 million. The additional $1 million was an unexpected turn in the road. Councilman Joe Forkner said he was "astounded" by the increased cost estimates.
The council delayed a vote on whether it will ask King County for additional funds for the studies. Several in the administration are anticipating making a request for an additional $745,000.
The council has scheduled a special meeting to discuss the matter on May 14. At the meeting, it plans to delve into the ramifications if the project ends up being scrapped. At this point, city leaders say there is no more money in the municipal coffers to spend on the Sunset bypass.
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