The Move Seattle Levy Update: A look back on a successful (& nearly complete!) year of work.

Crews add new paint markings to a street in Seattle

Our Quarter 3 (Q3) Report on the Levy to Move Seattle was published on October 30, and we’re here to tell you about all the great things we invested Levy dollars in last season.

Brace yourselves! It’s a lot!

It’s been about a year since we published the Updated Levy to Move Seattle Workplan Report and we’ve come a long way in just one year. With better reporting in place and more accountability to the clear and measurable plan in the Workplan Report, we’re excited to show real results and progress being made.

The 9-year Levy to Move Seattle was approved by voters in November 2015 and provides $930 million to improve safety for all travelers, maintain our streets and bridges, and invest in reliable, affordable travel options for a growing city.

The Q3 Report is a regular update to the Move Seattle Levy Oversight Committee detailing SDOT spending on Move Seattle programs.

Read our Q2 blog post for a look at our accomplishments over the first six months of the year, and then dive in to our Q3 Report to see what has happened since then!

We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished for you, Seattle!

The majority of the year’s portfolio is on-track and we’re proud of the many accomplishments and successes achieved in Q3 and throughout 2019.

Here’s a huge shout-out to our crew-delivered, maintenance, & operations programs on the progress they’ve made this year!

Q3 was a big quarter for progress across all programs, but especially in crew-delivered and maintenance/operations programs like sidewalk safety repair, curb ramps, paving spot improvements, markings, stairway rehabilitation, and transit spot improvements.

Here’s a quick rundown of our major Move Seattle successes so far for the year:

BIKE LANES

We added more than four miles of protected bike lanes in Q3, including important connections that are part of the Center City Bike Network. Check out our blog post on the fun event we held to celebrate the opening of the 8^th Ave protected bike lane!

PAVING PROJECTS

Eight of nine paving projects for the year are complete! Did you get that? Eight of nine! We started construction on an additional 20 lane miles of paving that will continue over the next two years: the Avalon Way/35th Ave S paving project and the Green Lake/Wallingford area paving project. Through partnership with the Bike Safety program, these will also help make critical connections in the citywide bike network.

FAIRVIEW BRIDGE

We started construction of the Fairview Bridge Replacement project, a major milestone for this critical public safety and maintenance project.

SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL

Seventeen Safe Routes to School projects were built in Q3 alone! Safe Routes to school is a program that seeks to encourage more kids to walk and bike to school and improves safety in areas around schools for kids who walk and bike. The total number of Safe Routes to School projects for the year is now 27 – WOW!

TRANSIT SPOT IMPROVEMENTS

You’ve probably seen more red pavement around downtown, and maybe your bus stop saw some enhancements or upgrades, which are all part of the Transit Spot Improvements program that has exceeded its planned accomplishments this year, putting 27 spot improvements in the ground.

Look what our Levy Oversight Committee had to say!

We’ve continued to work with the Levy Oversight Committee to keep them informed along our way. Here’s what our Committee Co-Chair had to say!

“We were glad to see the arterial paving accomplishments noted in the 3rd Quarter Report. SDOT contractors and crews have already completed almost all the work scheduled for this year and even begun work on projects scheduled for next year. This kind of accelerated project delivery is critical to restoring and improving transportation infrastructure in our fast-growing city. Underspending in a few areas, though well explained in each case, needs to be monitored carefully to stay on track.” 

Ron Posthuma and Betty Spieth-Croll, Co-Chairs

We’ve faced new challenges delivering the Northgate Bridge, inspiring us to work even harder to move forward.

The Northgate Bridge, which will improve connections over I-5 for people walking and biking to connect to the future light rail station at Northgate, has faced a few delays this year due to permitting. However, through this process, we’re only more determined to begin construction by the end of this year and working hard to move things forward. Sign up to receive project updates with the latest information on the Northgate Bridge webpage.

So far this year, we’ve invested $137M of your tax dollars in safety, maintenance, & mobility enhancements – up 30% from last year.

2019 continues to be the biggest year of levy delivery. In Q3 alone, we invested $51.3M in transportation enhancements, which 10% higher than Q3 last year and 36% higher than Q3 spending in 2017. We spent about $8M less than we initially planned for Q3 which is due to several key project delays that we’ve been talking about with the Levy Oversight Committee throughout the year. Check out the Q3 Report for more detail.

Want to know more about the Levy to Move Seattle Q3 Report?

We’re closely monitoring all programs, projects, and levy spending, and we regularly share information with the Levy Oversight Committee. The Q3 Report is the last progress update on the levy before we’ll publish the 2019 Annual Report next March. But, keep your eye here on the blog, where we post ongoing project and program updates so you can keep track of the work we’ll continue to do before the year’s over!

Read the full report or attend a Levy Oversight Committee meeting.