Mercer Island
Mercer Island is a community that has clearly benefited from the Interstate Highway System. The Lake Washington Floating Bridge, a bridge of floating concrete pontoons, finally connected the island to Seattle in 1940. Nowadays it is called the I-90 Bridge because that is way the interstate takes travelers from the east into Seattle. And folks leaving Seattle can hop on I-90 to head to Eastern Washington. In 1940, Mercer Island was home to less than 2,000 residents. Today, over 22,000 people live on the island.
The I-90 Floating Bridge was key element in the transformation of the island from a farming community with a smattering of summer homes into a Seattle suburb with million-dollar houses, a median home value of more than $500,000 and its own school district.