Wrapping up their regular March 1 meeting in a “record time” of about nine minutes, City Council decided that plans for a new road and bridge connection over Issaquah Creek should be given a closer look by the Council Transportation Committee
A proposal for spending $63,736 for a preliminary study by consultant Transporation Solutions, Inc. was referred to the transportation committee for discussion on March 4, after The Reporter’s deadline.
The study was originally proposed by Costco Wholesale Corp., which approached the city about establishing a Local Improvement District (LID) to build a new east-west road connection near its office headquarters and flagship store. The study will determine the scope and benefits of a bridge, roadway and other transportation improvements to connect Pickering Place with the proposed Interstate 90 underpass, near the US Post Office building on Gilman Blvd., and East Lake Sammamish Parkway. The proposed bridge is identified as a connection between 10th Ave. Northwest and 221st Pl. Southeast, potentially bisecting the city’s Pickering Multiple Use Trail.
“They’ve talked to us for several years about their desire for an additional connection for Costco across Issaquah Creek,” said Mayor Ava Frisinger.
Costco is offering to reimburse the city for $31,868 of the study costs.
The potential cost of the entire project, cited in a Letter of Intent to form the LID by City Finance Director Jim Blake, is $45 million in bonds. Cities typically offer to pay a portion of LID infrastructure improvements.
With over 3,200 employees locally, and tens of thousands of customers visiting their store and headquarters daily, Costco sees the improvement as necessary. The city is also planning for increasing growth and density in and around the North Issaquah commercial subarea — where Costco is located — over the next two decades under the Central Issaquah Plan and the Transporation Improvement Plan.
Costco and the Pickering Place shopping area both currently maintain transportation access to SE 56th Street and 17th Avenue Northwest, which offers direct access to Interstate 90. The proposed east-west connection would provide better access to the Gilman and Old Town subareas through the new I-90 underpass, construction of which is scheduled to begin later this year.
