Neighborhood Street Fund Program
You ask, we build!
Updated: February 7, 2023
What’s happening now?
We are excited to announce that 9 new community-prioritized projects were selected for the 2022-2024 cycle of the Neighborhood Street Fund (NSF)! The improvements are all focused in geographic equity areas of the city and include new sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, bike connections, stormwater improvements, and intersection safety improvements:
- N 130th St and Ashworth Ave N Safety Enhancements
- N 128th St Walkway
- N 122nd St Walkway
- Garfield Superblock Enhancements
- Rainier Ave S and S Jackson St Safety Enhancements
- Chief Sealth Trail Connections
- S Rose St Sidewalk Repair
- 55th Ave S Sidewalk
- 26th Ave SW and SW Cambridge St Safety Enhancements
For the 2022-2024 cycle, we made changes to the typical NSF process. Instead of calling for new ideas, we revisited the large pool of unselected 2019 applications for projects located in geographic equity areas. While there are many worthy projects across the city, for this cycle we prioritized projects in areas of the highest need as identified in:
- The City's Race and Social Equity Index
- Displacement Risk Index
- COVID-19 cases reported by King County
We re-reviewed 2019 applications and met with applicants to discuss their perspectives on current needs and whether the project scope needs to change. We shared a shortlist of project candidates with the Levy Oversight Committee who selected the final projects on November 1, 2022. Thank you to everyone who submitted project ideas and helped prioritize the projects back in 2019. We are excited that many more of your ideas can be built!
2022-2024 NSF Projects Map
What is the Neighborhood Street Fund?
The Neighborhood Street Fund is a City program, running on 3-year cycles, that enables the community to propose and help prioritize transportation-related projects that are then built by the Seattle Department of Transportation.
Past and Current Projects
Click the links below to learn about projects completed in past NSF funding cycles as well as current projects scheduled to be completed in 2024:
- 2007-2021 Projects
- Current Projects (2022-2024 Cycle)
Images above show examples of past Neighborhood Street Fund projects including community art and new sections of sidewalks and protected bike lanes.
What are other opportunities for funding community projects?
The Neighborhood Matching Fund has a rolling application process to fund neighborhood groups, community organizations, informal groups, and business groups who want to do a project to build stronger community connections. See their webpage for more information.
We'll post additional opportunities on this page as we learn about them.
What types of projects are selected?
- Any transportation-related improvement in the city’s public right-of-way with an anticipated cost between $100,000 and $1 million is eligible for consideration
- Projects can fall into various categories such as: art, community placemaking, and safety improvements
- Past projects have included sidewalk repair, pedestrian lighting, bike safety improvements, or festival streets and can all be reviewed on our Past Projects page
How are projects selected?
The public votes for their favorite projects. The top-voted projects per City Council District are then evaluated and voted on by the Levy to Move Seattle Oversight Committee using the following criteria:
- Equity — Using the Race and Social Equity Index and Access to Opportunity maps, equity factors to be examined included race, English language learners, foreign born, income, educational attainment, health disadvantage, economic and social opportunity, transit and public services. Learn more about equity and the City
- Community — Results from the Community Prioritization and Voting phase will be reviewed to determine how much community support the project received
- Safety — Data on collisions from the past 5 years will be analyzed to determine the safety needs at respective project locations
- Usage — Using bicycle, pedestrian, and vehicle counts, evaluate how much use occurs at respective project locations to determine how many people will benefit from the proposed project
- Connectivity — Evaluate existing Master Plans to determine whether the project will enhance connectivity
How are projects funded?
Funding comes from the 2015 voter-approved, 9-year Levy to Move Seattle, which enhances safety for all travelers, maintains streets and bridges, and invests in reliable, affordable travel options for a growing city. The levy includes $24 million to continue the Neighborhood Street Fund program over the 9 years. We are on track to exceed our Levy to Move Seattle goals for the Neighborhood Street Fund (in 2022, we will have completed over 20 community-prioritized projects).
What is the timeline from start to finish?
The Neighborhood Street Fund program runs on 3-year cycles to select, design, and build projects.
| Phase | Timeline |
|---|---|
| Project Selection | 2022 |
| Design | 2023 |
| Construction | 2024 |
Questions?
If you have questions or need translated materials, please contact us at nsf@seattle.gov or 206-771-0481.
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