No one will argue that traffic in Issaquah is becoming unbearable, particularly around the Southeast 56th Street/East Lake Sammamish Parkway Southeast, Pickering Place, Costco chaos.

The city’s engineers have been designing the North Issaquah Transportation Network improvements, also known as LID 25 for some time. The project, which has yet to get off the ground, includes widening East Lake Sammamish Parkway Southeast, installing a roundabout at Southeast 62nd Street and 221st Place Southeast, and punching through a new road across Issaquah Creek to alleviate some of the pressure. That would provide yet another access to Costco and other Pickering Place businesses.

But there is a human side to this story: the taking of people’s land.

Randy Bass, 66, was born and raised in Issaquah, and now splits his time between Issaquah and Ellensburg where he owns a ranch and raises cattle. His family lived on the Plateau before moving to Black Nugget Ranch. The family built the last mile of Black Nugget Road.

“My dad had 200 acres he bought in the ‘50s, which we had to sell in the ‘90s to pay estate taxes,” Bass said.

He bought his property on East Lake Sammamish Parkway Southeast in 1974. There he owns “Truck Country,” established in 1998, which includes mini-storage units, boat and RV storage, rental of moving trucks and moving supplies. He bought the property – with a house on it – from the Tibbetts family. He donated 62nd Street to the city several years ago, he said.

At the Jan. 21 Issaquah City Council meeting, Sheldon Lynne, the city’s director of engineering, spoke to the council about part of the overall project that could be considered a stand-alone project with outside funding. The project includes adding curb, gutter, sidewalks, a bike lane and a new southbound through-lane on East Lake Sammamish Parkway Southeast from Southeast 56th St. to just north of Issaquah Fall-City Road. Lynne estimates the project will cost $7.5 million. The city already has secured a grant from the Puget Sound Regional Council for $975,000. The agency is the conduit for federal money.

Lynne informed the City Council of the need to move quickly to accept a $3.4 million award from the state’s Transportation Improvement Board. Having the TIB grant in place will strengthen the city’s case if it wants to pursue another PSRC grant for $2 million, which it must apply for in March.

The city has to have all of its funding for the project in place by November 2014 or the transportation grant would be pulled.

Depending on the $2 million from PSRC, the city will either be expected to pay $3.1 million or $1.1 million toward the project, which could come from a variety of sources, one of which is a local improvement district (LID). Other sources include $760,000 from Lakeside Development, which it has already paid, and $1 million due to the city from Rowley Development by 2015.

At the meeting, Bass told the council he started with nothing and lived on nothing to grow his business – and now they have to take it for “progress” and for Costco shoppers.

He said the city is going to put him out of business.

City officials said none of this is easy, but they will work with Bass and other property owners to “make them whole.”

Bass figures he will lose a little less than an acre and a half by condemnation.

“Sheldon has made a commitment to make me whole, but that’s a relative term,” Bass said. “We’ll see how that works. My biggest problem is I won’t be able to run my business under the model I have.”

Bass figures he’ll have to redevelop the property, which is expensive in Issaquah. He said it will be very onerous for him. He said he has some income from his ranch and storage facilities in Ellensburg and Ephrata, but the Issaquah facility is his main source of income.

Bass is in a position he’d really like not to be in, but he’s going to try to turn this “curse into a blessing.” He said the city could be helpful, or make the process of redevelopment hard for him. He’s had a short conversation with Issaquah Mayor Fred Butler, and has talked with Lynne and, so far, they have not been adversarial. However, Lynne made it clear that Bass would have to abide by city code like everyone else.

If the entire North Issaquah Transportation Network improvements could get done in a timely manner, Lynne said the cost would be about $40-plus million.

This issue will be revisited at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3, at the regular Issaquah City Council meeting in council chambers.

Randy Bass addresses the Issaquah City Council Jan. 21.