S Othello Street before the Neighborhood Street Fund project.
The City’s Neighborhood Street Fund (NSF) Large Project Program received 86 project applications for the third and final round of funding from the voter approved Bridging the Gap (BTG) Transportation levy. This levy, adopted by voters in 2006, provides $4.5M every three years to select, design and construct larger neighborhood projects identified by the community.
Applications were received from all 13 districts and the average number of applications from each district was seven. The next step has already begun with each of the neighborhood District Councils narrowing their list to three proposals and forwarding those projects to SDOT for evaluation and refinement. SDOT will work with each applicant as needed to meet construction or design standards. Types of projects submitted ranged from new sidewalk, bike lanes, and crossing improvements, to lighting and signal improvements.
Once SDOT completes this work, the projects will be forwarded to the BTG Levy Oversight Committee for their review and evaluation. At the same time projects will be sent back to each District Council for their final rankings and in early summer the Oversight Committee forwards its (or both lists) list of projects for funding to the Mayor and City Council, who will make the final selection of projects.
S Othello Street after the Neighborhood Street Fund project.
Project recommendations will be finalized in the fall of 2013; project design work will happen in 2014 with construction taking place in 2015. The NSF program began in 2007 and at the end of this year, 27 new projects will have been constructed thanks to BTG. To see examples of what neighborhood projects have been proposed and funded, please visit the NSF Past Projects website.
To learn more about BTG, please visit this web page.