Issaquah Gondola
As Issaquah continues to grow, traffic has become a challenge. With I-90 running through the city and with major elevation differences between west and east, the few arteries are getting clogged. Now the city is considering another I-90 crossing. Would that address the problem? Or would it be better to increase transit options such as adding a gondola?
Issaquah's latest Mobility Action Plan talks about the growing number of car trips. It points out that many trips go through Issaquah to Bellevue and Seattle downtown but many trips also stay in Issaquah. If you want to shop both at Trader Joe's and PCC or Costco, you need to get back in your car and cross one of the bridges to get to the other side of the freeway. Issaquah envisions building another bridge over I-90 to link Pickering Square with Gilman Village by extending Maple St over I-90 towards Lake Drive. While that may simplify such shopping trips, it would also bring even more traffic into these shopping areas. As these roads ultimately connect the same arteries, you may get stuck on the same arteries (such as NW Sammamish Rd) as before.
When I reached out to the city, they also pointed out that the bridge would allow for multi-modal access. While I could see this improving bike access, I cannot imagine many people walking over I-90 while getting passed by other cars.
What if you could park or take a bus to the closest entry point into Issaquah and from there rely on high-frequency transit?!? That would drastically reduce traffic within the city. In fact, it would pull its neighborhoods together effectively into a 15-minute city. Issaquah already has transit centers with park & ride facilities on the southwest entrance and the northeast corner of the city but bus service in between is neither frequent nor fast. If Issaquah would add a gondola line in between those centers with mid-stations at Swedish Hospital, Downtown, Gilman Village, and Pickering Square, then all major destinations would be reachable within minutes. Buses such as the 554 wouldn't need to traverse downtown Issaquah anymore as the gondola would be more reliable. The bus service hours from current downtown lines could be reallocated to serve the gondola stations more frequently. Cyclists wouldn't have to climb the hill towards the Highlands or cross I-90.
Once Issaquah gets served by a Link station along Rainier Blvd by the Issaquah Creek, the gondola would allow riders to reach the Issaquah Highlands and both transit centers to park or connect with other bus lines. That might be faster than diverting all buses downtown to the Link station.
Before Issaquah invests into another bridge, it may want to consider a gondola to bring its various neighborhoods closer together, reduce traffic inside the city, and therefore make it much easier for its citizens to visit multiple places across its neighborhoods without having to drive and search for parking.