Tag Archives: transportation

Seattle set to vote on $1.55B transportation levy this fall

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(Image: SDOT)

The Seattle City Council has reached one of its most important milestones of the year, finalizing a $1.55 billion transportation levy for the November ballot.

Mayor Bruce Harrell can now sign off on the proposed property tax levy and put the decision in the hands of Seattle’s voters.

Despite its record size, the city’s electorate seem unlikely to reject the levy and its focus on spending on streets, transit, sidewalk, and bike lanes for the next eight years.

Tuesday’s council approval came with one final element to sweeten the pot as members agreed to earmark $20 million of the levy’s future funding for work to complete the “missing link” of the Burke-Gilman Trail in Councilmember Dan Strauss’s district. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council making final additions, cuts to transportation levy proposal on way to November ballot — UPDATE

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The Seattle City Council is working Tuesday to finalize the transportation levy proposal set to appear on November’s ballot and set the course for spending on streets, transit, sidewalk, and bike lanes for the next eight years.

Tuesday’s session will focus on debate over a roster of amendments with proposed additions and cuts to the package that could raise the price tag from its current $1.55 billion level.

Tammy Morales representing South Seattle’s District 2 is coming to the table with proposed additions that could push the total levy to $1.7 billion including adding $15.5 million more for “neighborhood-initiated safety projects,” $14.5 million more “for the creation of new sidewalks and safe pathways,” and $30 million more for arterial roadway maintenance. Continue reading →

Council holds final public hearing on Seattle’s now $1.55B transportation levy proposal

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The Seattle City Council will hold its final public hearing Tuesday on the 2024 transportation levy renewal as the proposal has grown another $100 million to $1.55 billion with proposed amendments that would “double investments in creating new sidewalks and safe routes to school, as well as triple funding for safety on public transit.”

Council transportation chair Rob Saka is bringing the proposed $100 million boost to the table for committee approval. The additions would bump the anticipated property tax bill from the levy for the Seattle median assessed value home to $499 a year — $30 higher than the initial proposal from Mayor Bruce Harrell.

Saka’s proposed changes include: Continue reading →

Seattle City Council holds first of two public hearings on $1.45B transportation levy proposal

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A Seattle City Council committee will host the first of two planned public hearings Tuesday on the proposed $1.45 billion transportation levy being readied for November’s ballot.

The Select Committee on the 2024 Transportation Levy’s hearing will focus on providing time for the public to speak in person and remotely on the proposed property tax. If approved by voters in the fall, the funding and spending plan will replace the $930 million levy approved in 2015.

The city says that under the current expiring levy, the cost to a typical homeowner is around $24 per month. The new eight-year levy proposal would increase the monthly cost by 70% to $41 per month. Continue reading →

‘The basics of a 21st-century transportation system’ — Seattle boosts transit levy proposal to $1.45B with $100M more for sidewalks, bikes, and transit

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Harrell digs in (Image: SDOT)

Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office has finalized his proposal for the city’s next transportation levy planned to go before Seattle voters in November — now with an even bigger price tag: $1.45 billion.

The Seattle Times is calling the eight-year proposal Seattle’s “biggest-ever property tax proposal.”

Transit, biking, and pedestrian advocates are calling it an improved proposal after a month of criticism over the plan’s focus on repairs, replacements, and realignments over new street and transit projects.

The mayor said Friday at a press conference unveiling the new proposal that feedback shaped a $100 million addition to the plan.

“Over the last month, we’ve received feedback from thousands of Seattle residents who want a transportation system that is safe, connected, and well maintained – this proposal will help get us there,”  Harrell said in a statement.

Transit advocacy leaders have been measured in their enthusiasm for the proposal, praising the administration for listening to constituents but framing the plan’s spending on elements like safety, transit, and non-motor vehicle travel as barely adequate.

“We thank the transit riders and the community of advocates who spoke up to ensure this levy ushers in the transportation future we need,” Kirk Hovenkotter, executive director, of the Transportation Choices Coalition, said in a statement from the mayor’s office that called the proposal’s investments “the basics of a 21st-century transportation system.”

“We thank Mayor Harrell for his leadership on the levy and for being responsive to community feedback.”

The updated levy proposal will add a more than $20 million to boost sidewalk work including adding 250 blocks of new sidewalks in the first four years.

The administration also responded to advocates, boosting funding earmarks for improving transit corridors by 20% to around $145 million in spending in the plan to improve safety and connectivity with light rail stations and on key routes like the 3, 4, and 31.

Bicycle spending in the proposal was also boosted around 20% with about $114 million in planned safety spending, and expansion of the city’s bike networks. Continue reading →

Seattle has a new 20-year transportation plan — Now, about that $1.35B levy…

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(Image: @seattledot) “Nearly one hundred years ago, on April 21, 1924, the first traffic light in Seattle was installed at 4th and Jackson…”

The Seattle City Council Tuesday approved a new 20-year transportation plan for transit, street, sidewalk, and bridge projects across Seattle that will serve as the framework for the planned $1.35 billion transportation levy renewal vote this fall.

While still massive in scale and the result of a two-year process of outreach, bureaucracy, and budgeting, Mayor Bruce Harrell and council leadership are emphasizing the plan’s focus on day to day issues like potholes, sidewalks, and costly infrastructure repairs over the ambitious new initiatives and projects it might eventually spawn.

“It’s time for us to prioritize the bold basics of local government. From filling potholes to expanding access to public transit, this 20-year vision for the future of Seattle’s roads does just that,” District 3 Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth, vice chair of the council’s Transportation Committee, said in a statement. “Local government can’t solve every problem on its own, but when we put our mind to it, we can build world-class transportation infrastructure.”

The Harrell administration plan was little changed by the council and some of the few additions underlined what is being positioned as a more neighborhood-focused approach. Continue reading →

Groups will rally Saturday in the Central District for ‘more housing and better transportation’ in Seattle

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Seattle urbanists and transportation activists will rally Saturday, calling for “more housing and better transportation in Seattle” as city leaders move forward on a new 20-year growth plan for the city and a new $1.35 billion transportation levy vote this fall.

The Transportation and Housing Rally for a Healthy Future will take place Saturday, April 20th starting at 2 PM in the Central District’s Jimi Hendrix Park: Continue reading →

Hollingsworth amendment for Seattle Transportation Plan focuses on Lake Washington Blvd safety

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(Image: City of Seattle)

A Seattle City Council committee Tuesday morning will take up a handful of amendments including a proposal from District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth as it finalizes the city’s new long-term transportation plan.

CHS reported here on the proposed 20-year transportation plan for transit, street, sidewalk, and bridge projects across Seattle that will serve as the framework for the city’s planned transportation levy renewal.

Tuesday, the committee could move the plan forward to a full council vote after debate on a roster of amendments including downtown representative Bob Kettle’s push to remove funding from the so-called “Pike Place Event Street project” and amendments that seek to help better address the estimated 27% of Seattle streets that do not currently have sidewalks. Continue reading →

Seattle sizing up new $1.35B transportation levy proposal

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The Harrell administration’s delicate dance around shaping a $1.35 billion transportation levy proposal for Seattle has begun. Thursday, Mayor Bruce Harrell unveiled the framework of the levy focused on repairs, replacements, and realignments and not major new street and transit projects.

“No matter how you get around, it will make trips safer, more reliable, and better connected so that every Seattleite is set up for success when they experience our city,” Harrell said about the levy proposal.

Mayor’s Office Summary of the 2024 Transportation Levy Plan: Continue reading →

Council considers Seattle Transportation Plan proposal emphasizing equity and economic investments

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The Seattle City Council’s transportation committee will be busy Tuesday morning debating a resolution to adopt Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposal for the city’s next major plan for transit, street, sidewalk, and bridge projects across Seattle. The plan is considered a framework for the city’s upcoming transportation levy renewal, according to a council memo.

CHS reported here how areas like 23rd Ave are at the center of the Harrell administration’s proposal for the Seattle Transportation Plan as it focuses on a roster of highest priority initiatives, equity and economic investments, and projects in underserved areas of the city while downplaying massive undertakings like new light rail lines.

If approved by the committee and the full council, the resolution would adopt the plan that shapes plans for multiple modes of movement and travel including transit, vehicles, bicycles, freight, pedestrians, Vision Zero, and more, “and will likely inform the investments in the upcoming Seattle Transportation Levy,” a council brief on the Tuesday session reads. Continue reading →