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City of Seattle
Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor
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NEWS ADVISORY
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| SUBJECT: Neighborhoods Drive Big Investment in Sidewalks, Streets
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
11/7/2007 11:30:00 AM |
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Alex Fryer (206) 684-8358
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Neighborhoods Drive Big Investment in Sidewalks, Streets
New program provides $6 million for local sidewalk, lighting & traffic projects
SEATTLE - Mayor Greg Nickels today announced the first 17 projects that will be built through a new program that puts neighborhoods in the driver’s seat when it comes to making their streets safer for pedestrians and other users.
The city will invest $6 million over the next three years for new sidewalks at schools, sidewalk repair, better lighting in business districts and slowing speeders. Each of the projects was proposed by neighborhoods and vetted by a 15-member community advisory group.
“This is a great opportunity to help neighborhoods improve the sidewalks and streets they use every day,” Nickels said. “Many of these projects will make it safer and more convenient to walk - a win for the neighborhood and for reducing climate pollution from cars.”
The program is part of the Bridging the Gap transportation levy, which provided $4.5 million for The Neighborhood Street Fund for Large Projects effort. Nickels has proposed adding $1.5 million more to the program in his 2008 budget.
With support from the Seattle Department of Transportation and the Department of Neighborhoods, the community advisory group reviewed 150 projects and heard from more than 1,000 people through community open houses and online surveys.
The recommended projects include:
North (parts of the city north of the ship canal)
- Sacajawea Elementary asphalt pathway (20th Avenue Northeast)
- Wallingford sidewalk repair ( North/Northeast 45th Street between I-5 and Stone Way North)
- Greenwood sidewalk (Fremont Avenue North between North 87th and North 90th)
- Decatur School sidewalk (Northeast 77th Street between 40th Avenue Northeast and 43rd Avenue Northeast)
- Ballard sidewalk repair (Ballard Avenue Northwest)
Central (parts of the city between the ship canal and I-90)
- Queen Anne Pedestrian Improvements (Galer Street and Queen Anne Avenue North, Crockett Street and Queen Anne Avenue North, and McGraw Street and Queen Anne Avenue North)
- Third Avenue sidewalk repairs (2000, 2100, 2200 and 2300 blocks)
- Jackson Place Traffic Calming
- First Hill lighting (Eighth Avenue between Marion and Columbia Streets and between Columbia and Cherry Streets)
- Pedestrian improvements on Martin Luther King Jr. Way at East Alder Street
- Pedestrian connection on East Newton between Franklin Avenue East and the alley that is east of Eastlake Avenue
South (parts of the city south of I-90)
- Gateway Treatment for Roundabout at Renton Avenue South and South Roxbury and 51st Avenue South
- Lander Street Pedestrian Plaza
- Sidewalk connection from Marra Farms to Concord Elementary (Seventh Avenue South, South Director Street)
- Sidewalk on Alki Avenue Southwest from 65th Avenue Southwest to Beach Drive
- Columbia City business district pedestrian lighting and sidewalk repair
- Delridge sidewalk (30th Avenue Southwest from Southwest Findlay to Southwest Juneau Street)
The Bridging the Gap Transportation Levy is making a big difference on Seattle streets. So far this year, the city has expanded sidewalks; restriped 778 crosswalks; added more than 18 miles of new bike lanes and sharrows; installed new street signs at 765 intersections; and repaved 27 miles of arterial streets.
For more information on Bridging the Gap, or to learn more about the Neighborhood Street Fund for Large Projects, visit: www.seattle.gov/transportation/BridgingtheGap.htm.
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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