Today, Mayor Jenny Durkan released her 2022 Proposed Budget, prioritizing investments to continue helping us build back better from a global pandemic that upended everything about our daily lives – including how, when and where you were traveling throughout Seattle.

The portion of Mayor Duran’s 2022 Proposed Budget focused on transportation preserves the important work underway to provide safe, equitable, and accessible options to meet the travel needs of both current and future generations.

While our revenue needs still far outpace our available resources, the following priorities helped to guide us when making our budget decisions:

• Vigorously make progress toward Vision Zero and reimagine community safety

• Support an equitable recovery and accelerate our citywide transportation evolution

• Deliver on the Levy to Move Seattle, West Seattle Bridge Program, other capital projects, and basic asset maintenance

• Invest in a robust set of low-carbon transportation options

With these transportation priorities as our North Star, Mayor Durkan’s 2022 Proposed Budget takes several new actions in addition to our ongoing work.

• Invest an additional $4.5 million in Vision Zero projects and programs that improve safety with Vehicle License Fee (VLF) resources, that include new ADA curb ramps, more maintenance for our sidewalks and bicycle lanes, and crosswalk repainting

• Continue to advance vital Levy to Move Seattle investments.
  • In 2022 we will deliver the RapidRide H Line in partnership with Metro connecting White Center and Delridge with Downtown and South Lake Union, complete Vision Zero upgrades to 23rd Ave E, a neighborhood feeling significant construction impacts from the SR520 – Montlake Project, and finish the Route 44 Transit Plus Multimodal Corridor project creating a more reliable connection between the University of Washington, Wallingford, and Ballard.

• Rehabilitate the West Seattle Bridge by mid-2022 and continue working with communities in the Duwamish Valley to mitigate the impacts of the closure and detour routes, including $1.75M to improve 8th Ave S and the street end park to safely link the Georgetown community to its only waterfront access.

• Provide over $1 million to continue advancing transportation equity strategies.

• Fund planning and engagement to update our four modal plans and integrate them into a single, comprehensive transportation plan. This collaborative vision will serve as a framework for a potential transportation funding package to replace the Levy to Move Seattle expiring in 2024.

• Continue project development for the high-capacity transit Center City Connector streetcar project after activity was paused in 2018 with a $2 million allocation of funds.

• Use an additional $19 million (a total of $32 million) to support ongoing and planned transit service investments funded by the Seattle Transit Measure (Proposition 1) overwhelmingly passed by voters in 2020.

• Allocate over $6 million to upgrade mechanical and electrical components to three of the City’s movable bridges (University, Ballard, and Spokane) and repairs to the 4th Avenue South Bridge to help ensure and preserve these vital connections between our bodies of water for transit, vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic.

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In addition to the new actions mentioned above, we continue other important work. This includes:

• Doing important maintenance

• Building our citywide bike and sidewalk networks

• Making improvements to our sidewalk and curbside café program

• Managing curb side uses

• Continuing and starting construction on several Transit-Plus Multimodal corridor projects

• Supporting Sound Transit’s West Seattle to Ballard Link Extension effort, and much more.

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Further, the Parking Enforcement team recently joined us at SDOT. We are excited to welcome our new colleagues to the department. Over the next several months we’ll work on a transition that contributes to making Seattle safe and accessible and supports the critical work of on-street parking and curbside management.

Next steps and communication about budget

Over the next two months, the City Council will review Mayor Durkan’s proposed budget. Final adoption of the budget is expected on Monday, November 22.

SDOT presents to City Council on Friday, October 1 in the morning. Budget Public Hearings will take place as follows.

• October 12, 5:30 p.m.
• November 10, 5:30 p.m.
• November 18, 9:30 a.m.

Click here for more information about the Budget Public Hearings.

More information about details in the budget can be found at www.seattle.gov/budget and you can also direct any questions to 684-ROAD@Seattle.gov.