Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board

January 8, 2003

Mayor Greg Nickels 600 Fourth Avenue 12th Floor Seattle, WA 98104

Dear Mayor Nickels:

The Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board (SPAB) believes the city should restore funding for street crossings in the 2004 budget.

In the 2003 budget these fall under the Project Title "Pedestrian/Elderly Handicapped Accessibility", ID TC323140. This budget item was funded in 2002 for $1.3 million, but in 2003 fell to $700 thousand.

The work performed with this project actually falls into three areas.:

• ADA Ramp construction covers wheelchair and blind accessibility improvements to curbs at crossings. This work must be funded for legal if not ethical reasons.
• Safe Routes to School involves crossing and sidewalk improvements within the vicinity of schools. Though the volume of traffic may be light, vulnerability of school children makes this a high priority. With continued cuts of crossing guard funding by the city, physical improvements to increase safety are ever more important.
• Pedestrian Safety Fund covers other intersection improvements such as curb bulbs and curb revisions. Because pedestrian safety is at its lowest at intersections - points of conflict with vehicles - putting dollars in this area is the most effective general transportation funding for pedestrians.

SPAB asks that the Mayor and City Council restore funding for these three key transportation areas to at least their 2002 levels in the 2004 budget.

Sincerely,

Rob Ketcherside
Chair, Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board

Cc:
Grace Crunican, Director SDOT
Seattle City Council Member Richard Conlin, Transportation Committee Chair
Seattle City Council Member Heidi Wills, Transportation Committee Vice Chair
Seattle City Council Member Richard McIver, Transportation Committee Member
Seattle City Council Member Jan Drago, Budget Committee Chair
Seattle City Council Member Nick Licata, Budget Committee Vice Chair
Seattle City Council President Peter Steinbrueck, Budget Committee Member