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City of Seattle
Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor
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NEWS ADVISORY
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| SUBJECT: Mayor to add $2 million for Neighborhood Road Projects
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
9/11/2007 1:00:00 PM |
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Alex Fryer (206) 684-8358
Richard Sheridan (206) 684-8540
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Mayor to add $2 million for Neighborhood Road Projects
City plans to invest more than $10 million over the next three years
SEATTLE - Mayor Greg Nickels plans to increase spending for neighborhood transportation
projects to enhance public safety, and improve neighborhood streetscapes. Following
an unprecedented city outreach effort, Nickels responded by adding $2 million
to the city’s Neighborhood Street Fund (NSF) in his proposed 2008 budget.
This addition means the fund will grow to $10.1 million over the next three
years.
“We listened carefully to neighborhoods, and expanding this program
was clearly a top priority,” Nickels said. “The Neighborhood Street
Fund is an effective tool to help communities build sidewalks, traffic circles
and other improvements to make their streets safer and their neighborhoods
more livable.”
The NSF was originally designed to fund small community-selected road projects,
such as traffic circles, curb extensions, and streetscape improvements. This
year, the city budgeted about $1.2 million for NSF projects.
Under the voter-approved Bridging the Gap transportation levy, the city expanded
the NSF to also fund larger projects, such as new sidewalks, center medians,
and street resurfacing. Bridging the Gap includes $1.5 million annually for
these larger scale projects and the mayor’s proposed budget adds $1.5
million from the general fund to this program in 2008. In addition, the mayor’s
proposed budget shifts another $500,000 to the NSF fund for a total one-time
add of $2 million. With this additional $2 million above the levy funding,
the city now plans to invest $10.1 million in neighborhood transportation improvements
over the next three years.
“Some neighborhoods want new sidewalks, so we are going to build new
sidewalks,” Nickels said. “Other neighborhoods want road improvements,
so we are going to do that too. These investments directly answer the specific
needs of each neighborhood.”
This year the city expanded its public outreach efforts to seek a broader
range of input and ideas for neighborhood transportation projects. The city
focused on reaching out to lower income and diverse communities, in addition
to contacting established resident groups and neighborhood councils when seeking
project applications.
In response, the city received nearly 500 applications, or four times the
number received in previous years. The Seattle Department of Transportation
(SDOT) is holding six open houses around the city over the next two weeks to
seek public input on which projects should receive priority. A representative
committee will review the projects and public input, and make funding recommendations
to the mayor. The committee will meet annually to receive project status reports
and updates.
Visit the mayor’s web site at www.seattle.gov/mayor. Get the mayor’s
inside view on efforts to promote transportation, public safety, economic opportunity
and healthy communities by signing up for The Nickels Newsletter at www.seattle.gov/mayor/newsletter_signup.htm
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Office of the Mayor
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