The Mayor’s 2005-2006 budget proposal provides $159 million in funding for 190 projects that support 38 neighborhood plans. The proposed capital improvement program would invest more than $67 million in 2005, an increase of $16 million from 2004. Then, in 2006, $92 million would be spent on neighborhood projects. The Mayor protected the citywide Neighborhood Matching Fund, holding it steady at $3.2 million per year despite huge revenue shortfalls.

Here are some highlights of projects and programs planned for Belltown, Chinatown-International District, Commercial Core, Denny Triangle, Downtown Urban Center, Eastlake, Pioneer Square, South Lake Union, Queen Anne, Magnolia, the Waterfront and surrounding neighborhoods.

Get Seattle Moving

In 2005, the Mayor’s budget proposes to repave more than 85 lane miles of city streets, including more than 44 miles of arterial roadways. His proposal also includes improving the timing of traffic signals at more than 150 locations and installing 55 new curb ramps. In addition, the Mayor’s budget includes funding to fill up to 70,000 potholes.

• Work on Replacing the Magnolia Bridge – The city will evaluate possible locations and bridge types for replacement of the Magnolia Bridge, which was damaged by a landslide in 1997 and the Nisqually earthquake in 2001. The current alignment is being studied as well as other alignments to the north and possibly the south. Input from a variety of stakeholders is sought, including the Magnolia Community, local businesses, and the Port of Seattle. The final steps in the design phase of this project are to perform the necessary civil and structural calculations and to prepare the plans, specifications, and estimates. Currently, the Environmental Impact Study of the bridge replacement is being conducted.
• Connect Belltown and Queen Anne with the Waterfront – The city proposes to construct an overpass across the Burlington railroad tracks between Elliott Avenue West and Myrtle Edwards Park along West Thomas Street. The overpass allows pedestrian and bicycle access to Myrtle Edwards Park, creating a vital central link from the park to the west side of the Uptown and Belltown neighborhoods. This connection is called for in the Uptown and Belltown Neighborhood plans.
• Move Forward on Design of the South Lake Union Streetcar Line –The Mayor’s proposal includes the final design and environmental documentation needed to construct a streetcar route serving downtown, Denny Triangle, and South Lake Union. The purpose of this project is to provide local transit service, connect to the regional transit system, encourage economic development, and help create a vibrant, livable neighborhood. The southern end of the proposed route is approximately 5th Avenue and Westlake. The northern end of the proposed route is approximately Fairview and Yale Avenue N.
• Provide Interim Repairs to the Alaskan Way Seawall – The Mayor proposes to provide minor repairs damaged rock fill, wood, and steel-facing brackets along the Alaskan Way Seawall.
• Continue Work to Prepare for Replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall – The Mayor’s proposal funds the City's involvement in the environmental study process required to reconstruct or replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall, which are both seismically vulnerable. The Alaskan Way Viaduct is part of State Route 99, which carries one-quarter of the north-south traffic through downtown Seattle. It is also a major truck route serving the City's industrial areas. The Seawall supports the soils under Alaskan Way and the Viaduct.

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Keep our neighborhoods safe

Seattle has one of the lowest violent crime rates of any major city in the nation. However, property crime and illegal drugs remain an issue in our neighborhoods. The Mayor’s budget proposes to expand the Neighborhood Corrections Initiative Teams (NCI) into all five precincts. NCI is a partnership between Seattle Police and the Department of Corrections (DOC), which allows officers to more effectively supervise DOC clients residing in the city. NCI teams are proactive and are often able to intervene before crimes occur. The Mayor also proposes to reconstitute the Stay Out of Drug Area (SODA) program, which helps keep known drug offenders out of neighborhoods where they cause the most harm. All neighborhoods will also benefit from the addition of two full-time staff members for the Seattle Disaster Aid and Response Teams (SDART) to train Seattle neighborhoods to be self-sufficient for a minimum of 72 hours following a major disaster.

• Renovate Fire Station #2 - Station 2 is the oldest working fire station in Seattle. Its core operations include an engine company (E2), a ladder unit (L4), an aid unit (A2), and a medic reserve unit. The full station will be reconfigured to provide capacity to house another medic unit if needed, as well as to create space for a battalion chief unit and battalion chief reserve unit. The building renovation will house one of the City's three new supply caches to respond to disasters that could isolate certain areas of the city due to bridge damage or debris blockage.
• Reduce Flooding on Major Arterials – To reduce the risk of urban flooding, improvements will be made to the storm drain systems along Eastlake Avenue East and Fairview Avenue East .
• Reduce the Landslide Risk in Magnolia – To reduce the risk of landslides on the Magnolia bluff, improvements will be made to the drainage systems along Perkins Lane West and West Ruffner .

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Create jobs and opportunity for all

The Mayor’s budget proposal maintains $160,000 in funding for neighborhood business district grants. Like neighborhood matching funds, these grants enable business districts to determine how to best serve the economic development needs of their neighborhood. The Mayor’s proposal also funds Community Technology Grants of $80,000 to provide matching funds and technical assistance to underserved communities.

• Make South Lake Union a Leading Center for Life Sciences – The Mayor’s strategy to make South Lake Union a center of economic development includes several goals: attract biotechnology jobs, continue to develop a waterfront park, encourage neighborhood services—including housing, jobs, parks and businesses—and develop the infrastructure needed to sustain this development, including transportation, power, water and drainage improvements.
• Provide Funding for Technology to Underserved Communities –Through the cable franchise agreement, the City will also provide 88 high speed cable broadband connections worth more than $150,000 to community organizations. Those who received these connections in 2004 include: the Chinese Information and Service Center, Helping Link, Theater Puget Sound at Seattle Center, International District Community Center, and Queen Anne/Uptown Neighborhood Service Center.
• Improve the Power Infrastructure – Since economic development cannot happen without reliable infrastructure, the City proposes several large projects to strengthen the power–supply system, including improvements to the Broad Street Substation, the First Hill electrical network, and the Union Street Substation.

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Build strong families and healthy communities

With the passage of the Families and Education Levy, we will increase investment in children and youth citywide by $4 million in 2005 for a total of $31 million, benefiting families in every neighborhood. The Mayor’s Children and Youth Budget aligns levy funds with general fund support. In 2005 we’re providing more money - $804,000 from the general fund – to support the network of seven family centers throughout the city, including those in the Cascade neighborhood and the International District. In addition, the general fund will provide $1.73 million to provide food and nutrition services for children, low-income families, people who are homeless, and seniors throughout the city.

Increase Affordable Housing

The Mayor’s 2005 budget will maintain full funding to increase and preserve the supply of affordable rental housing ($20 million), expand our supply of affordable homeownership units ($3.6 million), and repair and weatherize existing housing stock ($4.3 million).

• Tashiro Kaplan – Residents will soon move in to a vibrant community of affordable housing for low and very low-income artists and their families. Artspace, Inc. and Pioneer Square Community Association partnered with the city to redevelop the Tashiro and Kaplan buildings in the Pioneer Square neighborhood to create 50 units of artist live/work space and 32,140 square feet of community-related art space. In addition to housing, the redevelopment includes community spaces, artists’ studios, art galleries, a restaurant/coffee house, arts organization administrative office space and rehearsal space.
• Lowman Building– The City provided a loan guarantee to the private developers who are currently renovating this Pioneer Square building that was damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. Upon completion, the Lowman will provide 89 new workforce housing units above retail space.
• ID Village Square II – Residents will soon move in to a large redevelopment of 57 family-sized apartments above a community center and neighborhood branch library. The City guaranteed more than $10 million in bonds with Seattle Chinatown International District Public Development Authority (SCIDPDA) to complete the second phase of the redevelopment.
• Nihonmachi Terrace – Formerly homeless families will have a place to call home, thanks to a partnership with the InterIm Community Development Association. Groundbreaking will soon begin on a 50-unit family housing project across the street from Danny Woo International District Garden. Located on a “ Green Street,” InterIm plans to utilize a number of innovative sustainable features.

Enhance and Build New Parks and Cultural Opportunities

• Build a New Belltown Community Center– A new facility will include a multi-purpose room, kitchen and spaces for classes, community meetings and celebrations. A new community center will serve as the civic focal point for the neighborhood and be available for public meetings, classes and rentals. A partnership with the Low-Income Housing Institute is expected to also provide public housing as part of the development.
• Open the New International District/Chinatown Branch Library – The new 3,800 square-foot branch is expected to open in mid-2005 as part of a residential and commercial development in partnership with the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority. The branch will have a collection of 12,000 books and materials with an emphasis on multilingual and multimedia materials, computers and instruction areas and modern technology services.
• Renovate the Queen Anne Branch Library – The interior of the existing library will be renovated to include new seating, improved ventilation, upgraded technology services and equipment, more electrical, communication and computer connections, more efficient circulation desk and work areas, better acoustics and an updated book collection.
• Renovate the Magnolia Branch Library – The interior of the existing library will be renovated and the possibility of enlarging it by nearly 2,000 square feet will be studied. The renovation will include upgraded technology services and equipment, better electrical, communication and computer connections, more efficient circulation desk and work areas, improved ventilation, new carpeting, energy-efficient windows throughout, and an updated book collection.
• Improve the Magnolia School Playfield - Develop site to the east of the school into a park. Consider development of a playfield, gathering area, and other park amenities as part of park development.
• Expand the Wing Luke Asian Museum - The City intends to provide $1 million toward redevelopment of the East Kong Yick Building as a new, larger home for the museum.
• Improve and Update Freeway Park – The city is working with the Freeway Park Neighborhood Association on safety improvements that include pruning shrub beds to create better sight lines in the park, fencing off a few hidden areas, widening pathways, adjusting lighting and replacing park benches.
• Improve The Aquarium at Pier 59 - The pilings under the Aquarium at Pier 59 are deteriorating and need replacing. Working with the Seattle Aquarium Society, we will develop an exciting new entry to the Aquarium, including a new admissions area, visitor amenities and a major new exhibit.
• Improve Pier 62/63 – Restore the pilings under Pier 62/63, the site of the annual Summer Nights at the Pier concert series. Although occasionally hosting other special events, for most of the rest of the year the pier provides a place to stroll out over the water to view Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains to the west, and the Seattle skyline to the east.
• Improve Pioneer Square-area Parks – The first of this two-part project is nearly complete with improvements to Pioneer Square Park. In the next year, Occidental Square Park will also be transformed into an active and vibrant public space so enjoyable that it is sought out by the people who live, work and visit Pioneer Square.

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