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Move Seattle Levy update: SDOT invests $85M to keep people and goods moving

by on August 2, 2019
SDOT staff preparing to do road paint work

SDOT paint crew

 

We released the Q2 2019 progress report for the Levy to Move Seattle. Over the first six months of this year, we invested $85.7M in transportation safety and maintenance projects around Seattle ($28.8M in Q1 and $56.9M in Q2). This investment is a 45 percent increase over the same time last year and the highest to-date for the levy.

 

Investing in Seattle

Chart shows year to date spending through Q2

Year to date spending through Q2

The voter-approved Move Seattle Levy is one way in which we invest in safety enhancements to support of our goal to end traffic deaths and serious injuries on city streets by 2030. This spring (March – June 2019), Seattle voters invested $12.9M in the Safe Routes levy category, which includes spot and traffic signal improvements, replacing signs, and bike facilities to build the infrastructure needed to meet our Vision Zero goal. For example, we completed the NE 65th St Vision Zero project. The street design was developed to address persistent pedestrian and bicycle collision issues and reconfigured to enhance safety at the site of three fatalities that have occurred in the last five years.

 

We are looking forward to finishing more projects this year which will address safety concerns. For example, projects with major safety components which are underway or slated for completion this year include the Rainier Improvements Project Phase II, Greenwood/Phinney Ave N, and Aurora Phase I, and work that supports projects in the Center City Bike Network. In addition to Vision Zero work funded by the Move Seattle Levy, we continue to use other funding sources in order to complete additional safety improvements such as citywide speed limit projects and upgrading traffic signals with leading pedestrian intervals.

 

We’re also preserving our streets. In Q2, $20.1M was invested in maintenance and repair, like repaving and paving spot improvements to keep people and goods moving. For example, we completed the 23rd Ave Corridor, Phase II project.

 

Finally, as we move through the Seattle Squeeze and ask travelers to plan ahead, investments in congestion relief continue. We invested $23.9M in levy deliverables for the Congestion Relief category, including multimodal improvements like transit spot improvements, new sidewalks, and major freight projects like the Lander St Overpass.

 

 

By the Numbers

Here are some highlights on Levy deliverable progress so far this year:

  • Nearly 15 lane miles of fresh pavement (and 15 more lane miles on the way later this year)
  • 29 paving spot improvements
  • 9 transit spot improvement projects
  • Over 800 restriped crosswalks
  • 3.44 miles of bikeways in North Seattle, 3.67 miles underway in Southeast Seattle, and 2.2 miles underway in West Seattle
  • 8 bike spot improvements
  • 166 bridge spot repairs
  • 1,788 trees pruned
  • 10 Safe Routes to School projects
  • 23.5 blocks of new sidewalk and 12 block equivalents of sidewalk repaired

 

SDOT road crew working on 37th Ave S & S Kenyon St

SDOT road crew at 37th Ave S & S Kenyon St.

Keeping Projects Moving

Major projects in the design are also hitting key milestones. We awarded the construction contract for the Fairview Bridge project to replace the last wooden bridge on a major road remaining in Seattle. We reached 60% design on RapidRide H Line and 90% on RapidRide G Line moving closer to bringing premier bus service to Delridge and Madison and identified funding to advance Phase 1 of the East Marginal Way project.

 

 

 

 

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