10/18/2024 Press Release
https://www.seattlegreenways.org/get-involved/blog/2024/11/18/2024-seattle-transportation-levy-pass/
Thanks to your advocacy efforts, Seattle’s biggest investment in our streets is about to begin.
SDOT just released their 2025 Transportation Levy Delivery Plan which details which projects levy funds will help build.
The Seattle Transportation Levy, which you helped pass last November, included historic funding levels for safety, pedestrian, and bike projects, and more. Put together with the 2024 Transportation Plan, SDOT now lists which projects should be completed and when to avoid project delays, optimize spending, and keep Seattle moving.
The plan is off to a good start and we need to hold council to what has been sketched out so far and not let them water down the spending.
Safety Projects (Vision Zero): Key safety upgrades are planned to save lives on Seattle’s most dangerous streets—Aurora Ave N, MLK Jr Way S, and Rainier Ave S.
New Sidewalks: The plan includes 250 new blocks of sidewalks by 2029, doubling the construction rate. However, we’re concerned about delays from excessive outreach. Seattle needs sidewalks now, using existing data to fill critical gaps.
New Programs: We're closely tracking two key programs we fought for:
People Streets and Public Spaces, transforming streets into plazas and community spaces
Neighborhood-Initiated Safety Partnership, ensuring equitable, community-driven safety improvements.
Check the full report to see projects in your neighborhood for bike connections, Safe Routes to School, accessibility, crossing improvements, sidewalk maintenance, and more.
Show up at the Seattle City Council Transportation Committee to give public comment. In person at Seattle City Hall (600 4th Ave) or call in virtually (Public comment guide)
Email Council@Seattle.gov to let them know your neighborhood transportation priorities.
Interested in a role overseeing the transportation levy and holding the city accountable to our shared values? Apply to join SDOT’s new Levy Oversight Committee by February 28!
Stay tuned for more info, and thank you for your ongoing advocacy!
7/8/2024 Press Release
Last week, council passed the final levy proposal out of committee which will be formally approved tomorrow before going to voters in November. We know that we needed more from this levy and in the face of such huge issues, it is easy to lose sight of just how far this levy proposal has shifted. Every organization and advocate in this group has unequivocally made this transportation package better and those wins will have real impact on real lives.
This coalition formed to push back on a vision the Mayor and SDOT presented to advocates last fall that focused on austerity and prioritized SDOT’s polling over desperate needs like vision zero and accessible sidewalks. Our report laying out the city’s funding needs, our levy demands, the rally, press events, action network emails, social media posts, and endless stream of public testimony dramatically shifted the conversation.
We added $149 million in multimodal funding between the Mayor’s first proposal and the final levy. Here are 5 big wins worth celebrating:
$66.5 million for a new people streets and public spaces program for the first time in Seattle's history, including $10 million for pedestrian lighting to increase visibility and safety at night, and a study to Lid I-5, an important next step to provide more public land and urban freeway mitigation.
$145 million in funding for sidewalk construction and repair, a 75% increase over the Mayor’s initial proposal in April. This will build 350 blocks of new sidewalks over the next 8 years. This is less than we were pushing for, considering Seattle’s 11,000 blocks of missing sidewalks, but still increases Seattle’s rate of new sidewalk construction by over 40%.
$113.5 million for bike safety. While the list of promised bike routes is disappointingly short, this funding represents an increase over the inflation-adjusted Move Seattle Levy and will build critical bike projects including N 130th St, Beacon Ave S, and S Henderson St.
$41 million for a new equity-focused program for neighborhood-initiated safety projects. This program was crafted and proposed by SDOT’s Transportation Equity Workgroup to highlight and prioritize community ideas and will increase the equitable distribution of safety-focused spending.
$70 million for Vision Zero, including safety projects on all of Seattle’s top 5 most dangerous streets: Aurora Ave N, Martin Luther King Jr. Way S, 4th Ave S, Rainier Ave S, and Lake City Way.
We’ll continue fighting for:
Shifting Seattle’s car-centric transportation network to one that provides people with safe and convenient options for people to walk, bike, roll, and take transit. This week is a very real reminder that we continue to have a deadly transportation system. Even with our wins, this levy is still car focused with only 44% of funding going toward multimodal projects. We need transformative change to meet our climate, vision zero and equity goals.
Rallying against a $9 million “transit passenger safety” levy line item for “transit safety personnel, from civilian navigators to armed officers.” This goal is undefined in the legislation and goes against what King County Metro has said is a top concern for its riders. We stand with Whose Streets, Our Streets (WSOS) in opposition to funding for the Council's vision of transit safety. Armed officers don’t belong on our buses. Our transportation system thrives when it's connected to housing, healthcare, businesses, and community services.
A sidewalk and bridge task force that can offer real funding solutions for Seattle’s accessibility crisis. Currently, there is no levy or existing revenue source that can address the scale of our sidewalk crisis. DRW worked hard with SDOT and the Mayor’s office to win $5 million to fund a taskforce with teeth to recommend a viable solution, likely a bonding measure. Additionally, $3.5 million for sidewalk compliance FTE was included within this $5 million bucket. Council has watered this down by adding road maintenance to the task force’s objective and removing any mention of sidewalk repair. We will continue to hold SDOT accountable to this funding’s original intention.
Thank you for all your tireless advocacy throughout the year.
2/13/2024 Press release
Advocates’ report sets a $3 billion price tag to the City’s Seattle Transportation Plan for the next transportation funding package.
Dear Mayor Bruce Harrell, Seattle City Councilmembers, and Seattle City Staff,
The next transportation funding package, including the transportation levy, must realize the goals and visions of the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT)’s draft Seattle Transportation Plan (STP).
The attached report contains cost estimates based on numbers from Seattle Transportation Plan’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) “Alternative 3 for Rapid Progress” (as preferred by 95% of community surveyed). We used the city’s Climate Change Response Framework, Transportation Equity Framework, ADA Transition Plan, and Vision Zero plan to fill in missing gaps.
To put the city on track to meeting its mobility, safety, equity, maintenance, and sustainability goals, Seattle must invest just over $3 billion over the next 8 years in building:
Safety redesigns on Seattle’s five deadliest streets to prevent fatal crashes.
331 miles of new sidewalks to fill in gaps in the network.
60 new linear miles of dedicated transit corridors to cut commute times by 20% or more on key bus routes.
154 miles of new safe bike lanes and 73 miles of upgraded protection on existing bike lanes to advance our citywide bike network.
750 intersections with upgraded safety treatments and 320 accessible pedestrian signals.
And more. See the FULL plan document here
This report outlines the dollar amount needed to meet the city’s goals. The city must now figure out how to fund these important projects between the levy, other local matching dollars, state and federal funds, private partnerships, and other funding sources.
We also hope this report can be used by City Councilmembers, policymakers, advocates, and voters to assess the alignment between the Mayor’s forthcoming transportation funding proposal and the needed projects that reflect our city’s adopted values, plans and priorities.
CONTACT:
Cecelia Black, Community Organizer, Disability Mobility Initiative
ceceliab@dr-wa.org
Clara Cantor, Community Organizer, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways
clara@seattlegreenways.org
350 Seattle
Be:Seattle
Cascade Bicycle Club
Disability Mobility Initiative
Disability Rights WA
House Our Neighbors
Puget Sound Sage
Real Change
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways
Seattle Subway
Transit Riders Union
…that moves people efficiently and reliably. We can slash Seattle’s carbon emissions and be a model for other cities by taking real action on climate change. We can have a city where people of all ages can walk to the store or bike to the park without close calls in intersections, or hop on a bus without getting stuck in gridlock. We can achieve Seattle’s stated goal of zero traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030. We can have a government that doesn’t criminalize and disproportionately police Black and brown community members in public space. We can create an equitable transportation system that treats mobility as a human right.
Public transit is facing a funding crisis due to a lack of progressive revenue sources, defunding of Vision Zero, homeless encampment sweeps masquerading as Sidewalk projects, lingering impacts of the COVID-19 recession, and Tim Eyman’s Initiative 976. We are not on track to achieve Vision Zero, or even Seattle’s insufficient Climate Action Plan. We can’t get on track without moving swiftly to prioritize public transit, walking, biking, and freight mobility, and minimize reliance on private vehicles.
We need city leaders to step up. That’s why Move All Seattle Sustainably (MASS) formed in fall 2018. We are a coalition of multimodal transportation and climate advocates dedicated to creating a carbon-neutral, equitable, and livable city for all. Join us!
Email us: MoveAllSeattleSustainably [at] gmail [dot] com Follow us on Twitter: @MASScoalition