Background

Just north of the downtown area of Seattle there is an east-west street known as Mercer Street. A portion of it west of Interstate Highway 5 (I-5) is a main access route to I-5 and is also a main route to the Seattle Center and associated venues. This portion of Mercer St. has heavy volume and is often badly congested, especially during rush hour. This situation, which has existed for many years, is known locally as the “Mercer Mess.”

Mercer Street is one-way eastbound to on-ramps to I-5 both northbound and southbound. Westbound traffic coming off of I-5 is routed a block north to Valley Street and follows that street westbound, parallel to Mercer for several blocks.

About a half mile west of I-5 is Aurora Avenue North, a major north-south highway (part of State Route 99). Mercer Street passes under Aurora in an underpass, but Valley St. does not cross Aurora. One block east of Aurora, at Dexter Avenue North, the eastbound traffic on Valley St. is diverted on Broad Street, which runs diagonally from there southwesterly, crossing Aurora in an underpass. At Fifth Avenue North much of the westbound traffic on Broad turns north on 5th Ave. N. and across Mercer to Roy Street, a one-way street westbound one block north of Mercer. Here traffic can turn left on Roy and go west several blocks to Queen Anne Avenue North, where it can turn left on Queen Anne and go one block south to Mercer, which from here is a two-way street west to Elliott Avenue West.

So eastbound traffic just goes east on Mercer, but westbound traffic follows the circuitous route described in the preceding paragraph. There are also traffic lights at several of the intersections with north-south streets, further adding to congestion.

Current Plans

Current plans promoted by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and recently approved by the City Council are to convert Mercer Street to a wider two-way street and reduce the size of Valley Street. Mercer Street will be the main route both westbound and eastbound, and will be “beautified” to further improve the South Lake Union neighborhood, which is being developed as a neighborhood of high-tech industry and upscale offices and condos.

The problems

The main problem I see is that the proposed project will improve the appearance of the neighborhood but will do very little, if anything, to improve the infamous Mercer Mess. Apparently the project will only involve those portions of Mercer and Valley between Dexter and Fairview (where the ramps to I-5 begin). Traffic will still be impeded by local traffic, several traffic lights, and converging traffic from other streets. Studies show that on the average it will not improve traffic flow.

My Opinions

I am opposed to the current proposal because it does not solve the traffic congestion. I strongly feel that although a better solution will be more expensive, spending lesser money to accomplish so little is a waste of money.

I am in favor of building a through route as a cut-and-cover tunnel from Elliott Avenue West to Fairview Avenue North, and building a local Mercer Street on the lid of the tunnel.

My proposal will eliminate traffic lights on the underground through route, will provide an interchange with Aurora Avenue North and the proposed bored tunnel, and provide a quick link between the bored tunnel and the Interbay and Ballard districts.