Jan. 14, 2016: The Sammamish City Council approved going forward with a geo-technical feasibility study for the controversial Sahalee Way road project.

The vote was 5-2, with Deputy Mayor Ramiro Valderrama and new Council Member Christie Malchow voting no.

Valderrama said he was in favor of the study but wanted to get a formal presentation from staff on public input from a November open house first. Malchow said she has yet to be convinced the project will actually solve a problem and improve traffic flow rather than only “checking the box” for concurrency.

The study is to determine whether there are any geological issues that would influence how, or even whether, the project should proceed. There are sensitive areas around Sahalee Way and before Sammamish was incorporated in 1999, a portion of the road that is now within the City Limits gave way in a landslide.

The project is currently estimated to cost just under $15m. Staff said nearly all of this would be funded by state grants and development impact fees, though it acknowledged that the City would have to front some monies until all impact fees were received.

Staff wants to begin construction next year.