“It is a never-ending battle to keep on top of the railing repairs on the Alaskan Way Viaduct,” says Greg Funk, general bridge maintenance supervisor for SDOT. This year so far, repairs on the viaduct have totaled over $123,000 according to Ed Mortensen who is SDOT’s Bridge maintenance… [ Keep reading ]
BMW recently launched a national campaign against distracted driving with an ultra-poignant video on the topic. As a society, we generally take safety very serious. In fact, some would say that today’s parents are the most overprotective ever. We constantly wash our hands to prevent the spread of germs, we wear… [ Keep reading ]
Tree-lined streets add beauty to our city, but, like other SDOT assets, require periodic maintenance. For the Urban Forestry tree crew, routine maintenance means pruning. The tree crew recently pruned hundreds of ash trees on NE 125th Street, from I5 to 35th Ave NE. Pruning protects vehicles and pedestrians… [ Keep reading ]
Now you can view available parking in downtown Seattle online with SDOT’s e-Park system that provides parking guidance and real-time space availability information in the retail district of downtown. Providing easy access to off-street, short-term parking for shoppers and visitors, e-Park monitors openings in over 4,500 parking spaces located… [ Keep reading ]
The Race and Social Justice (RSJ) Change Team’s mission is to provide leadership and oversight under the guidance of the City’s RSJ Initiative so that SDOT can successfully eliminate institutional racism within departmental practices, policies, programs, and procedures. One of the Change Team focuses is community engagement. In 2010, the… [ Keep reading ]
By the time you encounter a construction project, it will have been years in the planning. In addition to the more obvious construction-related planning such as design, funding, and how it will be built, the lesser known side of planning involves coordinating the construction traffic closures and required detours that are critical to building a project. SDOT makes every effort to reduce the impact of construction on the driving public. That may sound relatively simple, but it’s much like a game of chess. Every shift of traffic can alter traffic somewhere else, sometimes in a totally unrelated area. As noted by SDOT Construction Coordinator Abby Rudell, work on I-5 can shift traffic so as to cause impacts as far as I-405, east of Lake Washington.
On May 19, SDOT invited parents, teachers and students to participate in a walking audit at Coe Elementary School. SDOT is conducting a Safe Routes to School program at Coe that includes engineering improvements around the school as well as pedestrian safety education and a walking encouragement campaign. During the… [ Keep reading ]
Have you ever noticed a street that ends abruptly in a greenbelt or wooded area, then starts again a block away? The area where there is no street is most likely an unimproved right-of-way, and they are scattered throughout the city. Many are overrun by invasive vegetation, but they… [ Keep reading ]
If you’ve ever carried your bike up a public stairway or clunk-clunked it along the steps–or avoided a trip by bike entirely because of that steep hill–we’ve got good news for you. Some newer staircases in Seattle are sporting a simple design feature: a runnel, which is a narrow ledge… [ Keep reading ]
If you live or work around this area you probably noticed surveyors on the street last week. SDOT is getting ready to lengthen the left-turn lanes on Elliott Avenue W. at West Mercer Place. Construction will begin June 13 and will last 3-6 weeks. Why are we doing this? This… [ Keep reading ]
