Event booths lining a busy festival in Seattle. Photo: SDOT In case you missed it, we’re sharing highlights from the SDOT Blog each month. Here are some of our top blog posts from July.
SDOT Blog Monthly Highlights – July 2022
Please note: You can click on the headlines to go directly to any specific blog post (#1-5) – or just read on for a shorter recap of each post and a photo.
1) It’s time to Slow the Flock Down!
We kicked off July with the rollout of our Slow the Flock Down campaign. The campaign aims to remind drivers that driving the speed limit helps to keep everyone on the street—whether driving, walking, biking, or rolling—safe.
We designed this attention-grabbing campaign to raise awareness that speed limits have been lowered to 25 miles per hour on most Seattle arterial streets. We then launched a series of billboards, radio, and web ads. This campaign is a partnership with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT).
Lower speed limits are part of both cities’ larger Vision Zero strategies to end traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030. We also know that it’s not enough to just talk about this issue. In addition to public education efforts, we’re continuing to design, build, and implement safety improvements, with a key focus on areas where data shows the most serious crashes occur.
2) We’re attending community events this summer – come chat with us about transportation in Seattle!
Last month, we also announced the return of our summer outreach! Tabling at local events is a big way we connect with you, our One Seattle community.
After a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19, we’re back out in Seattle doing summer outreach. We host tables at community events around the city to speak with people about their transportation needs, City programs and projects happening now or coming up in their neighborhoods, and to connect directly with community members.
There’s still time to chat with us in person! Here’s a list of events we’ll be attending for the rest of August and September:
- Umoja Festival | August 5-7 at Judkins Park
- Duwamish River Festival | August 6 at Duwamish River People’s Park & Shoreline Habitat
- Othello International Festival | August 14 at Othello Playground
- Big Day of Play | August 20 at Rainer Community Center and Playfields
- Sea Mar Fiestas Patrias | September 17-18 at Seattle Center
If you see us at an event, please feel free to stop by. We’d love to chat with you!
3) SDOT awarded nearly $15 million in federal funding to help revive three city bridges
We received close to $15 million to rehabilitate and preserve three city bridges: S Spokane Street Viaduct, Jose Rizal Bridge, and 15th Ave NW and Leary Way NW Bridge.
The new funding comes as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Thanks to the leadership of our federal delegation and significant support from local officials and advocates that created this law, these funds are available to improve the condition of our bridges as well as the safety, efficiency, and reliability of the movement of people and freight over them.
4) Latest post-tensioning work dramatically increases West Seattle Bridge’s strength, moving us closer to reopening
Speaking of bridges, we reached another milestone in the West Seattle Bridge repair process: we completed tightening the steel post-tensioning cables inside the bridge.
This exciting update means we are one step closer to reopening the bridge as planned. Post-tensioning is one of three key repair procedures we’re using to bring the bridge back to service: epoxy injections to fill cracks, carbon-fiber wrapping to add strength, and post-tensioning with steel cables to compress the concrete. Together, these methods will strengthen the entire structure, prevent future cracking, and help keep the bridge safe for decades to come.
With post-tensioning complete, the remaining tasks to reopen the West Seattle Bridge are:
- Complete final epoxy injections and carbon-fiber wrapping
- Complete cure time for the carbon-fiber wrapping
- Remove work platforms
- Load test and inspect the repairs
- Restore the pavement on the bridge deck
- Remove construction equipment and get the bridge ready for the public
You can read this blog post to learn more about how we’re managing risk factors to minimize the potential for delays. We will continue to provide ongoing construction updates and keep you posted as we wrap up the remaining repair tasks.
5) LEVY DOLLARS AT WORK | Spring and summer construction season is here, which means your Levy dollars have been hard at work in the second quarter of 2022
Finally, we reported another quarter of transportation improvements thanks to the Levy to Move Seattle. You can read the Q2 report here.
From April to June, the Levy made it possible for us to complete these and other improvements:
- Basic maintenance: we repainted more than 1,100 crosswalks, repaired a total of 5.5 blocks of sidewalks, planted 31 trees, and maintained landscaping for safety and visibility.
- Bicycle safety: we grew Seattle’s bike network by approximately 2.5 miles in Q2, including bike lanes, protected bike lanes, and neighborhood greenways.
- Paving: we repaved over 13 total lane-miles, including on 15th Ave NE, 15th Ave S, S Spokane St, and S Columbian Way.
- New sidewalks: we constructed 3 blocks of new sidewalk on Lake City Way, and currently have over 20 blocks of new sidewalk under construction and planned to be complete by the end of the year.
We’re going to keep working in the second half of the year to maintain, improve, and add to our city’s transportation system. Thank you, Seattle, for investing in the Levy and allowing us to keep our city moving safely, smoothly, and efficiently!
