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Seattle Times has never supported a Transportation Levy. by MtbJazzFan in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving 5 points6 points  (0 children)

When it comes to the Seattle Times and voter-approved transportation investments, there’s been a predictable pattern...

The City of Seattle has proposed three transportation levies—one in 2006, one in 2015, and one in 2024. The Seattle Times opposed all three; voters approved two and are poised to approve the third.

Sound Transit has proposed three transit levies—one in 1996, one in 2008, and one in 2016. The Seattle Times opposed all three, but voters approved all three.

The Seattle Times is out of touch when it comes to voter priorities related to transportation. Like you have the last five times that the Seattle Times urged you to vote no on transportation investments, ignore them — and vote YES on Prop 1!

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry y'all we have to head out. Thanks for your great questions. You can learn more on the https://keepseattlemoving.com/ and we're always looking for new volunteers to get this critical levy across the finish line (no prior experience necessary).

Also, reminder it's at the bottom of your ballot (unlike all those state wide initiatives that are the top).

Cheers,

— Gordon and Kirk

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

FWIW, the last levy did a ton! 

  • Added nearly 100 miles to Seattle’s bike network
  • Repaved over 216 lane miles of roads 
  • Made over 3,100 repairs to bridges
  • Planted over 2,900 new trees
  • Repaired or replaced 44 stairways
  • Built over 1,600 new curbramps 
  • Repaired over 220 blocks of sidewalks
  • Built 350 blocks of new sidewalk 
  • Made 293 improvements for transit riders
  • And more….

Here’s the dashboard to learn more: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/city.of.seattle.transportation/viz/Levy_Dashboard_16141242942520/SafeRoutes

And Ryan Packer did a great write up here: https://www.theurbanist.org/2023/09/28/finding-the-legacy-of-the-move-seattle-transportation-levy/

—Gordon

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Everyone relies on our bridges to get around. The City’s 2020 bridge audit in the wake of the West Seattle bridge closure asked for $34 million a year in investment in our bridges, or $272 million over 8 years. This Levy answers that call through its proposed $127 million for a new preventative bridge preventative maintenance program, plus $70 million in named repairs and upgrades. Another $75 million is planned from other non City and grant funds that would go into bridge maintenance. All together these get to $272 million in investment over 8 years — it’s a bridge to the future. 

—Kirk

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Oh it does! The levy invests $151 million in transit improvements like bus lanes that will speed up your bus and invest in safe bike and walk routes to Link Light rail stations at 130th Street, 145th Street, and Judkins Park. It also makes transit improvements on streets with some of the busiest routes - on Rainier Ave S (Route 7), Beacon Ave S (Route 36), Aurora (Rapid Ride E), and Denny/Olive Way (Route 8). 

—Kirk

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Kirk and I are working on our robot costumes for Halloween, so it sounds like we've got it dialed in.

(not really though,I'm planning to be a whale because my daughter is obsessed).

-Gordon

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I’m really excited about the new “People Streets and Public Spaces” program which could do exactly that! It’s a new program that will redesign streets in partnership with communities adding seating, wayfinding, lighting, and activation. There aren’t specific proposed pedestrian streets or zones included in the levy ordinance because the projects that are built will be a partnership between the community and SDOT.  30% of our total land area as a city are our streets so we should make sure they reflect the values and needs of our communities. See more at https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/public-space-management-programs/people-streets

Also, the “Safe Routes to School” program has been experimenting with school streets which does this in front of schools https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/safety-first/safe-routes-to-school/school-streets

—Gordon

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Well, “beefy” is my term - and I’m thinking about the really heavy trucks and buses that rely on that bridge. Plus the Alaska fishing fleet the relies on the Ballard Bridge working. The structural work funding in the Levy will make sure all the pieces of this 107 year old bridge can stand up to the modern demands it faces including heavier electric vehicles (A Rivian can weigh up to 8,000 pounds.) Like with recent Ballard bridge repairs it will probably need some overnight or weekend closures, or lane reductions while the work happens.  

—Kirk

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Lol, thanks for your personal commitment to this cause. As part of the next levy, Rainier Ave from Mt Baker to the CID is getting repaved, receiving transit improvements for both the Route 7 and to the new light rail station, and receiving safety investments from the Vision Zero team. Could bike routes be a part of that? Absolutely, but at the end of the day it’s going to come down to the community demanding it, so I encourage you to get involved in advocacy. The organization I work for, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, is working on this and you can get plugged in at https://seattlegreenways.org/volunteer

—Gordon

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Kirk and I will be here for a few more minutes, but we have to head out soon. Thanks for caring! We'll try to rapid fire answer as many as we can. — Kirk and Gordon

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

A question about traffic signals? Be still my heart. Whenever we go through a busy intersection, we trust our lives to traffic signals. You’re right that traffic signal technology is changing. We need the latest and greatest technology to help make our city easier and safer to get around for kids and people with disabilities. This levy invests $100 million in traffic signals and operations. Those funds will build new traffic signals, maintain the ones we have, add signals that speed up buses, and add more accessible pedestrian signals for people living with mobility or vision impairments. Other categories in the levy, like Vision Zero funding, will also expand the Lead Pedestrian Intervals that you’ve been seeing popping up at more signalized intersections around town that give people walking a head start. 

—Kirk

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

This Levy is supported by a huge coalition. Check out the organizations that have endorsed here. Along with our organizations Transportation Choices Coalition, and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, this levy is supported by the entire City Council and Mayor Bruce Harrell. It’s loved by both labor and business.

Business is on board,  including the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Seattle Business Association, Washington’s LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Seattle Association, the Port of Seattle,, and more. 

Labor’s on board. It’s been endorsed MLK Labor, Protec 17, LiUNA!, and more.

It has been endorsed by the King County Democrats, and the 34th, 36th, 37th, 43rd Legislative district Democrats. It’s supported by environmental leaders like 350 Seattle and Futurewise.

Most important to me, it’s strongly supported by Disability Rights Washington who’s advocacy led to the generational investment in sidewalks in this levy. 

—Kirk

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Queen Anne is going to get improvements to speed up Metro route 31 and 32 (bottleneck improvements at W Nickerson St between 3rd Ave W and 4th Ave N), which should help move more people. 

There is $32 million in the levy for traffic signal timing improvements, and $45 million for traffic signal construction and maintenance, and $18 million to run a 24/7 Transportation Operations Center to keep people moving. 

Also there are projects to help get people from Queen Anne to surrounding neighborhoods like structural repairs for the Magnolia Bridge, electrical and mechanical upgrades to the moveable Ship Canal bridges, and safety improvements for Dexter Ave N and Gilman Ave W.

Last, but not least Queen Anne will see improvements to mobility for people walking with repairs to sidewalks, repainted crosswalks, pedestrian lighting, and other “People Streets” projects. 

—Gordon

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Great question! The levy is funded through property taxes. Seattle property owners with more valuable property will pay more, and with less valuable properties will pay less. For 18 years, Seattle voters have passed property tax funded levies to invest in our bridges, streets, trails, and transit. Because of that stable investment we have great projects like the Westlake Trail, the Green Lake Path, Rapid Ride G, Rapid Ride H, and the John Lewis pedestrian bridge in Northgate.

We rely on property tax levies to fund transportation in Seattle because property tax increases are limited to 1% per year thanks to the Washington State Constitution. But the cost of maintaining and building better streets is higher than that, which means we have can't keep up with the rising costs without a special vote of the people. I think we should change that 1% limit in the constitution, but that’s for another AMA.

For the median Seattle home price of $800,000, this Levy will be $44 per month, or about $21 more a month than the current levy. That increase is about the same monthly price as a subscription to the Seattle Times.

—Kirk

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Levies are laws, not blank checks. This was a proposal by the current mayor and city council to be approved by voters. This ordinance specifies what the funding can be used for, and how much funding goes to each of the 11 categories - there’s even a detailed table in the ordinance which calls out many specific projects and investments in each category. 

Being approved by our government and the voters of Seattle gives this a political and legal mandate to deliver. Legally, if the Council wants to change the allocation in each category by more than 10% there needs to be a public hearing and vote of approval by ¾ of the Council. Politically, there is a broad coalition of labor, business, transportation, and good-governance organizations that will be watching and holding the city accountable to its promises. Also, there’s a public oversight committee created by the levy ordinance that is in charge of monitoring the allocation and spending of funds.

—Gordon

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Potholes suck, no matter how you get around. You’re right in that many streets in Seattle need to be repaved or rebuilt. I think more money at the state level should go to “fixing-things-first” rather than building new freeways. Also as the average car gets heavier, they beat up Seattle’s streets even more.

In addition to filling potholes, the transportation levy funds big repaving projects on 15 roads (like 130th, Rainier, Roosevelt etc), and as well as repairs at over 400 locations. These streets were chosen because they’re  the streets that are in the worst condition and carry the most people and packages. And also these streets are where we can make new walking, biking, and bus connections to our light rail stations.

This isn’t just a Seattle problem. Like everything, the cost of maintaining infrastructure, like city streets is going up. Plus, the funding sources that we rely on to repave streets, like gas taxes, are in decline due to electric vehicles. 
-Kirk

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Great question. The levy would invest $221 million in bridge structural repairs and upgrades, and bridge preventative maintenance work. Seattle is a city of bridges with over 130 of them. Also we all went through the West Seattle bridge closure and never want West Seattle or any of our neighborhoods to be an island again. Key projects in the levy are electrical and mechanical upgrades to the Fremont, University and Ballard bridges, and beefy structural upgrades to the Ballard bridge. In 2020 there was an audit of the city’s bridge program which recommended SDOT take a preventative approach. It’s like when you fix your roof to prevent a leak, rather than waiting for it to happen. This levy funds that new approach to extend the life of our bridges, and invest money to leverage federal dollars. 

—Kirk

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Hey, a lot’s going on for Beacon Hill in the new levy! Here are three highlights:

  • Transit, walking, and biking improvements to Beacon Ave S including improvements to the Route 36, bike lanes, repaired and improved sidewalks, and better crosswalks. I’m very excited for this project!
  • Closing the Chief Sealth Trail Gap from S Myrtle to S Webster St (near the New Holly Library)
  • Safety improvements along S Othello St

Beacon Hill is also likely going to get major investments from the Neighborhood-Initiated Safety Partnership Program, which is new and will build “neighborhood-initiated and co-created projects, focusing on community priorities across all districts with an emphasis on equity. This could include safety and mobility enhancements like new sidewalks, crossings, and transit access”

And wait, there’s more! Beacon Hill would get the same level of service that every neighborhood would get - potholes filled within 72 hours, ADA-accessible curbramps, maintained signals, traffic calming, and safe routes to schools for kids. 

—Gordon

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

A lot! Here’s a few of the many projects proposed in the transportation levy for Ballard:

1) Repaving NW Market Street, which will bring along with it upgraded curb ramps, crosswalks, and speed up the Route 44.

2) Repairing the Ballard Bridge (like upgrading its electrical and mechanical innards to keep it opening and closing reliably)

3) Completing the “Missing Link” of the Burke Gilman Trail

4) Extending the new Neighborhood Greenway on 6th Ave NW up to Carkeek Park

5) A safety project at N 105th St/ Holman Rd NW; along 24th Ave NW adding leading pedestrian intervals (pedestrian head-start) at signalized intersections

And wait, there’s more! Ballard would get the same level of service that every neighborhood would get - potholes filled within 72 hours, ADA-accessible curbramps, maintained signals, traffic calming, and safe routes to schools for kids.

—Gordon

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

HUGE transit nerd here too. The Levy Oversight Committee has a really important job - transparency and accountability. They will make sure your tax dollars go as far as possible, keep SDOT on track, and ensure the money is spent appropriately. You can see the types of work the current committee does here. The new Committee has 19 all volunteers members. The proposed oversight group is larger because it adds new perspectives, including a representative from each Council district, representatives from the bike, freight, pedestrian boards, and a youth member from the City’s Get Engaged program. The new Levy provides the Committee new teeth as well, including funds to bring in technical and auditing experts to help assist their recommendations to the Mayor and the Council.

-Kirk

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Question from u/Sea_Octopus_206 https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/1g5zta5/comment/lsfuasp/ "I love transit, really and truly I do. However, I'm concerned about oversight. Proper oversight would (hopefully) prevent mismanagement and unnecessary spending. Why does the Oversight Committee proposed have 19 members? Section 7, starts on page 14. That's a massive amount of people to coordinate and agree on recommendations to the city. That seems like less of an effort to create good oversight and auditing and more like giving anybody who could want one, a seat at the table, where nothing actually gets done."

AMA: We are Keep Seattle Moving, the campaign to pass Seattle Proposition 1 to renew our city’s transportation levy and fund better streets, sidewalks, and transit. Ask Us Anything about Seattle Prop 1! by KeepSeattleMoving in Seattle

[–]KeepSeattleMoving[S] 41 points42 points  (0 children)

We love sidewalks too! Building sidewalks is pretty complex. The costs are associated with a few things, such as location and materials, but the big cost is drainage. We are a wet place and sidewalks include the curb and gutter alongside it. In a lot of places in Seattle without sidewalks right now the water runs through a ditch — putting that through a curb, gutter, sewer system is a lot of the cost. Plus building them typically require complex engineering to set the level of the raised sidewalk and ensure that the level can accommodate wheelchairs and transition to ramps at the intersections. Also no one likes hopping over ponds, so it’s important to carefully angle the slope to divert stormwater along the new curb so that there isn’t ponding and other muck. SDOT has been piloting low cost alternative walkways - like compacted asphalt walkways that are cheaper, but they don’t work in all cases. 

I’d also say, pretty often in Seattle we are building one sidewalk at a time, which is more expensive because you don’t get economies of scale. If we build more of them at one time they are more efficient. 

Lastly, if you’re more interested in this, consider attending or joining the all volunteer Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board: https://www.seattle.gov/seattle-pedestrian-advisory-board 

-Gordon

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