Metropolitan King County Council 
King County Courthouse 
516 Third Avenue. Room 1200 
Seattle, WA 98104-3272 
206-296-l000 TTY/TDD 206-296-1024                                                                July 11, 2005
TolI Free: 1-600-325-6165 
www.metrokc.gov!mcc 


Issaquah City Council 
P. O. Box 1307 
Issaquah, W A 98027·1307 
Dear City Council members: 


          We arc writing to express our concern Over reports that the Issaquah City Council may vote to cut off funding for the environmental impact review of the Southeast 1s~aquah By-pass Road. 

          King County has supported this project because it recognized the need for a by-pass road that would provide a new north/south arterial between 1-90 and the Issaquah-Hobart Road to alleviate traffic congestion though the City of Issaquah. The County supported Issaquah in its grant application for a Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) grant and, more importantly, committed $4 M to the project in 2001. The first $1 M was allocated to costs related to the Phase 1 environmental impact study. In 2004, we revised our interlocal agreement to re-allocate another $1 M for Phase I to help the city reach a build/no build decision. 

          Our concern is that the proposed cut-off prior to completion of the environmental impact statement and a formal Record of Decision, invalidates the f1nancial commitment made by the County. We want the funds that have already been spent to have counted for something in the process, and we are at a loss to understand how pulling the plug on the project at a stage that provides no foundation for future decisions makes sense. 

         We respectfully request that the City defer any decision On this project until a Record of Decision point is achieved. 


Sincerely, 


Larry Phillips, Chair          Pete von Reichbauer, Vice Chair       Larry Gossett, Chair
King County Council        King County Council                         Budget Committee


Jane Hague, Vice Chair    Dow Constantine, Vice Chair            David Irons, Vice Chair
Budget Committee            Budget Committee                           Transportation Committee
                                                                                                ETP Representative 


(Note: The above was obtained by scanning in the original fax and converting it back to text. Click HERE to see a picture of the original fax.)