Sound Transit open house to focus on Mercer Island light-rail segment

Sound Transit will host an open house June 6 to allow the public to view the final design work under way for the Mercer Island segment of the East Link light-rail extension.

The East Link station serving Mercer Island is being designed to advance the city's goal of promoting mixed-use development of the Town Center, Sound Transit officials said in a press release.

The station will be located in the center roadway of Interstate 90. East Link riders riders would enter the station at 77th Avenue Southeast and 80th Avenue Southeast.

East Link is slated to enter construction in 2015, with work on I-90 to begin about a year later, agency officials said. Under a partnership between the state and Sound Transit, new 24-hour HOV lanes in both directions across Lake Washington on I-90 will be completed before the center roadway is closed for light-rail construction.

East Link's scheduled 2023 opening will give Mercer Island residents access to a 50-mile regional light-rail system. Islanders will be able to reach downtown Seattle or downtown Bellevue in about 12 minutes and the University of Washington, in 20 minutes.