All right.
Good afternoon, the May 2020, or excuse me, the May 21st, 2024 Select Committee on the 2024 Transportation Levy.
This is the public hearing will come to order.
It is 4.34 p.m.
I am Rob Sacca, chair of the Select Committee.
Will the clerk please call the roll?
Council Member Hollingsworth.
Present.
Council Member Kettle.
Here.
Council Member Moore.
Present.
Council Member Morales.
Here.
Council Member Nelson.
Present.
Council Member Rivera.
Present.
Chair Saka.
Here.
Seven present.
All right.
Thank you, Clerk.
And I note that Council Member Strauss and Wu are excused from this meeting.
If there are no objections, the agenda will be adopted.
Hearing no objections, the agenda is adopted.
And before we begin, the next item on the agenda, I'd like to tee up and explain, and this is gonna sound very familiar for some of our colleagues here that have been here earlier.
Just want to frame the context for why we're in the room right now where we are.
So tonight is the very first of two public hearings on the mayor's proposed transportation levy renewal legislation.
As you know, there will be one more hearing that will be held on June 4th at 4.30 p.m.
Again, right here in Council Chambers.
We're performing our business, conducting the important work of the people of the city and taxpayers of the city of Seattle right here in plain sight.
You may sign up in person or you may provide remote testimony.
You may also provide testimony at any of the next three committee meetings, the select committee meetings on the levy, which will be on June 4th, June 18th, and July 2nd, all at 9.30 a.m.
and colleagues that serve alongside me on the regular transportation committee.
I note that the start time is a departure from what we have been doing at 9.30 versus 10.30 because we are suspending until the conclusion of our deliberative process here as we consider the transportation levy proposal, all of our regular scheduled transportation committee meetings.
Again, you can sign up in person immediately prior to any of these meetings or online by logging into www.seattle.gov slash council slash committees slash public hyphen comment, or simply email all of us, council at seattle.gov.
And so here we are, have this important opportunity This levy, if passed by voters, well, look, the voters have entrusted city leaders from the levy that is expiring at the end of this year to ensure that transportation priorities and the most urgent needs were met.
And I believe that this passed levy delivered On those commitments to voters and and we that we have received various briefings on from various members of the executive s dot central staff and our own levy oversight committee experts who have reported out.
In this body.
and my transportation committee, the progress and the recommendations.
So I really want to thank the Levee Oversight Committee for their diligent stewardship over these past nine years of this expiring levee, soon to be expiring levee.
And I also want to thank the mayor and his team for the partnership and collaboration just on all things transportation.
and for their efforts in particular for bringing the levy renewal package and all its complexities and present it in a manner that the public can understand for the most part.
So here we are.
And as chair of this committee, it is my privilege to lead and help oversee this important work and make sure that whatever, this is a $1.45 billion investment proposal and whatever size, wherever we ultimately land, could go up, could go down, who knows, but wherever we land, I'm committed to working alongside you all and making sure that taxpayers receive the best bang for their buck And we have the strong ROI, return on investment, and seeing good results and impact for these really important, urgent investments on our transportation infrastructure across this great city.
So that said, will the clerk please read item one into the record?
Agenda Item 1, Council Bill 120788, an ordinance relating to transportation providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the city at an election to be held on November 5th, 2024, a proposition authorizing the city to levy regular property taxes up to eight years in excess of the limitation on levies in Chapter 8. for the purposes of providing city facilities and services, including transportation improvements, both capital and operating with possible debt financing, creating a new oversight committee, applying RCW 84.36.38 ones, senior citizens and disabled persons exemption and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.
Thank you, Clerk.
Will our presenters please join us at the table and share your presentation?
Once ready, please introduce yourselves and begin your presentation.
Pull it way closer to you.
There we go.
Okay.
Good afternoon.
Thank you, Chair Saka.
Thank you, council members.
I'm Greg Spotts, Director of the Seattle Department of Transportation, and I'm joined with SDOT Council Liaison, Bill Laborde, and SDOT Senior Deputy Director, Francisca Stefan, who's the executive sponsor of the levee development.
And we're very happy to have a chance to present a briefer version.
We're just going to do 10 minutes in summarizing the Mayor's Levy proposal.
For members of the public who would like to view the more detailed one-hour presentation that we gave, you can look up the May 7th meeting.
That Tuesday morning, we went into much more detail on this content.
Okay, Bill, I'm ready when you are.
Okay, so for the last 18 years, Seattle voters have supported transportation levies that make improvements to our streets, sidewalks, bridges, and traffic signals.
The Levy to Move Seattle, which expires at the end of 2024, represents about 30% of SDOT's budget for core services and new projects.
So the mayor has proposed a $1.45 billion levy renewal package that I believe is a practical and sensible set of investments to maintain and modernize our infrastructure.
I'm pleased to say that we have a variety of plans and strategies that informed the mayor's proposal.
This council enacted the Seattle Transportation Plan in April, which is the first time we've had a all-modal plan.
We used to have a bike plan and a pedestrian plan and a separate transit plan and a separate freight plan, and now the city has a holistic all-modal plan, and that informs the investments in the proposed levy.
We also have a much more refined and sophisticated asset management program that's based in part on the recommendations in the bridge audit that took place in 2020. We've implemented all of those recommendations.
And when it comes to the bridges, we are now able to make proactive investments to attain the desired lifecycle.
of each bridge asset, which really gives us a lot more intel in developing this investment program than we've had in previous levies.
Also, we're informed by the SDOT Transportation Equity Framework that gives us a lot of tools to make sure that we're investing in previously underserved communities.
And a big theme of the mayor's proposal is safety.
Safety in all of its forms.
Folks being safe from a traffic accident when they're crossing the street, but also folks feeling safe while they're waiting for the bus or while they're on public transportation.
All of the different investments in the proposed package drive these six goals and values that were embodied in the Seattle Transportation Plan that this council adopted recently.
And those values are safety, equity, sustainability, mobility and economic vitality, livability, and maintenance and modernization.
And that maintenance and modernization is a real theme.
We believe that the best time to update our infrastructure is when we're making the required maintenance to make sure it attains its service life.
So maintain and modernize is a kind of overarching theme across the proposal.
And with that, I'll pass it to Francisca to get into some of the detail.
Great.
Thank you, Greg.
Good afternoon, council members.
As Greg mentioned, this is an eight-year, $145 billion levy proposal.
It is built on the shoulders of years of the transportation plan, as well as input that we got during the process of developing this proposal.
It is crafted to be responsive to lots of different perspectives we heard throughout this process.
We heard from people who wanted to see a much bigger proposal.
We heard from people that wanted to see something a smaller proposal and we heard from people that wanted just different variations of investment and this is really reflecting a lot of that input and we worked to stitch together a lot of those inputs.
We also kept affordability at the forefront.
This levy as proposed would represent a $16 a month increase from the current amount that the average median home, the average median value homeowner pays today.
It does allow us also to leverage for significant additional grant funds.
So having this money helps us then bring in state and federal resources to bear on the city's future So I want to quickly just walk through the overall contours of the proposal very briefly.
I'll start with safety at $162 million.
This is really a core portion of how this proposal is organized.
We have a more than doubling of our investment in the Vision Zero program reflected here, as well as advancing key large projects like Aurora Avenue.
leveraging the state's grant funds and moving forward with a really important transformative project for our community.
It continues our investment in safe routes to school, as well as offering two neighborhood programs to deliver community requested projects, one through the district fund and the other through the neighborhood street fund project.
I want to jump over to the bicycle safety and pedestrian safety components here because these are core components of this proposal.
at 114 and $135 million each.
The pedestrian safety investment includes our investment in new sidewalks.
This is a really banner component of this proposal.
We're proposing to deliver 250 blocks of sidewalks in four years, as well as an additional 30 that would be focused in access areas to transit in our urban villages.
We're also building capacity through this to address long-term needs through a transportation funding task force and looking at our long-term need to help address projects, both small and large and set up the city for future success.
Under bike safety, we want to improve the existing bike network, hardening the barriers on our bike lanes, as well as closing key gaps in our network.
We propose to do hardened barriers on 30% of the network, as well as build or expand five additional neighborhood greenways that provide access to schools on our residential streets.
Back to the largest investment in Orange, $423 million for street paving.
And this is an element that benefits all modal users.
We really do believe that this is the fundamental way we keep people safe, whether they're biking, walking, they're moving in a vehicle, or they're moving goods.
The need is great here, as Greg mentioned.
And we have selected carefully 15 corridors that rose to the top for full repaving based on multiple factors of heaviest vehicle volumes, freight and bus service, pavement condition, and other factors.
And as Greg said, we'll be modernizing these as we go along.
Program also has $70 million for paving spot improvements to address smaller but very meaningful components of our network that need to have improvements to their structural paving.
We proposed 221 million to create the city's first bridge preventative maintenance program.
This creation was informed by the 2020 city audit on bridge maintenance.
This would be the first time we have a data-driven forward-looking investment strategy to extend the life of our bridge assets that we have today.
The best way that we can help our people continue to move over our bridges is to keep the ones we have in really good condition.
There are specific projects called for in this category as well.
upgrading the mechanical electrical systems of the Ballard, Fremont, and University Bridges, as well as preparing for future investments and readying up to five structures for state and federal grant funds by preparing them in up to 30% design.
On transit corridors, we're proposing $145 million.
It continues our investment in transit spot improvements, but also has 115 million in capital projects to really focus in on those bus routes that need reliability improvements and to create new pathways, particularly connecting to some of our new sound transit stations.
I wanna pause for a second and just say, we are on the precipice of a really exciting, we're actually in the middle of a really exciting expansion of our sound transit.
network here there's been we're sitting where we are excited to welcome new stations, just in the coming years.
And to see major expansions of the system, and that is one of the biggest things happening and shaping our city going forward during the life of this levy.
So we really looked carefully at how we can increase access to our sound transit stations.
We also heard from community members, they're very excited about it and they really support these investments as we help bring people to the sort of fundamental backbone.
We do also want to finish, we have been working with King County Metro.
They have identified the rapid ride R as one of the rapid rides they would like to deliver during the term of this levy.
So we have included an investment to work together with King County Metro on that project.
We also have included $3 million towards rider transit safety and security.
Another key component we heard from community members as we were doing outreach that they would like us to continue to work on ways that they can feel comfortable getting to and from and being on the transit system.
We have $100 million identified for signals and operations because keeping people, goods, and transit moving is part of the core work that we do.
This will help put in new traffic signals, improve signal timing, as well as put in accessible pedestrian signals.
This is a core part of how we do business, and we're excited to be able to continue to operate our Transportation Operations Center 24 hours a day, seven days a week with this investment.
People Streets and Public Spaces proposes to invest 66 million to activate public spaces and improve lighting in partnership with business districts and community organizations.
This was a new and community driven element really identified through the Seattle Transportation Plan and supported very strongly by residents and businesses alike.
It will start to address some of the shortage of pedestrian lighting, as well as commits to six initial projects and maintaining some flexibility to continue to work with different organizations as we move forward.
Among the projects identified so far include investments in downtown, in the Capitol Hill Central District East Union Street, Occidental Promenade, and some alley activation in the CID as candidate projects within these categories.
There are two areas that are at the top of the circle here that really benefit from investment throughout.
Certainly climate benefits from all of our investments in mode shift and getting people to where they're going in low emission modes and high efficiency modes, as well as freight and goods movement benefit from all the work on bridges and paving.
You know, so many of the 15 corridors identified here overlap with our freight corridor network.
So we really, while they are benefiting from so many of the other components, including the signals, we do have a few things that didn't fit in the other categories.
And so they have their own subsections here.
Under climate resiliency, we have advancing low pollution neighborhoods, as well as $29 million for urban forestry and $22 million for electrification.
Under freight and goods movement, we have a $17 million investment in supporting the freight spot program, as well as $8 million investment in the heavy haul network in collaboration with the port.
Next.
So just quickly over some of the highlights, so just jump through this.
You know, we talked about Vision Zero.
Which is really important here.
You know, we're proposing to double the speed of delivery in the first four years, followed by the Transportation Task Force's, following up on the Transportation Task Force's recommendation on how we might move forward with new sidewalks.
Really emphasizing link light rail connections and working with our existing bike network.
Next.
operating our system 24-7, adding ped lighting, EV charging, and spot improvements.
Before we close and turn it over to public input, I want to say a few words and then pass it back to Greg.
One is about flexibility and specificity.
This is obviously a balancing act here.
The attachment A that has been submitted to the council for deliberation is significantly more specific than we have today in the move Seattle levy.
It identifies a number of program commitments as well as funding commitments sub-program budgets and candidate projects.
We heard loud and clear the desire for the voter to know what they are endorsing when they go into the ballot box.
And at the same time, We also know from looking at the past and from hearing from others that we don't wanna lock the mayor's office, the council, the community into something that makes them unable to respond to new challenges as they might arise over the next eight years.
So we have worked to find a balancing between specificity and flexibility throughout.
And we look forward to having this conversation with you as we move forward.
And with that, I will pass it back to Greg to talk a little bit about our ability to deliver.
you yeah we're just about to wrap up and i wanted to mention that um what the mayor proposed is about 17 percent more purchasing power than if we took the existing levy and increased it by the rate of consumer inflation since 2015. so it's a little bit bigger and people have asked us you know um can you deliver on all that and i'm very confident that we can You know, through most of the levy, SDOT was having about one construction start per month for contracted construction projects.
And I really had the staff focus in 2023 on completing all the remaining designs for projects that hadn't yet started.
Well, in the first four months of 2024, we've had two construction starts a month.
And we just issued our second NTP notice to proceed to a contractor today for May.
So we will have had 10 construction starts in the first five months of the year.
And we're going to get all the rest of the levy projects into construction in 2024. In the process, we have built a very robust delivery team that is ready to deliver on the components of this proposed levy.
And we're gonna be spending the rest of the year preparing so that if the voters do move forward with this levy, that we're ready to start January 1st using the same awesome set of talent that's delivering at full strength right now.
And there's a lot more detail if the public's interested on the levy oversight committee that's proposed and the forms of quarterly reports and annual reports to show what we're delivering.
There's really a wealth of information available online on the current levy and how it's been delivered.
And we plan to continue all of that if there's a new levy.
And with that, I think we're ready to wrap up and receive input from the public.
All right, well, thank you very much, Director Spatz, and many thanks as well, Francisca and Bill, for joining us here as well.
All right, well, as presiding officer, I am now opening the public hearing on Council Bill 120788. Public comment should relate to items on today's agenda and within the purview of this select committee.
Clerk, how many speakers have signed up today?
Chair, we currently have six in-person speakers signed up and there are eight remote speakers.
All right.
Each speaker will have approximately two minutes.
We will start with the in-person speakers first.
Claire, can you please read the public comment instructions?
Yes, the public comment period will be moderated in the following manner.
Speakers will be called in the order in which they registered.
Speakers will alternate between sets of in-person remote speakers until the public comment period has ended.
Speakers will hear chime when 10 seconds are left of their time.
Speakers' mics will be muted if they do not end their comments within the allotted time to allow us to call in the next speaker.
The public comment period is now open and we will begin with the first speaker on the list.
So our first in-person speaker is Lakeisha Jones and she is followed by Lily Hayward.
Good day, City Council members.
My name is Keisha.
I represent SDOT's Transportation Equity Workgroup, TEW, and I am here to discuss critical priorities for advancing transportation equity in Seattle.
Our goal is to ensure equitable transportation strategies that reflect the diverse needs and values of our Seattle residents.
We provide SDOT with real-time insights and feedback, ensuring equity is central to all planning and implementation.
We've worked with the transportation equity framework into the 41 million neighborhood initiated safety partnership program.
We support this investment.
Three key recommendations include language accessibility, data-driven decisions, face-to-face engagement.
We would like to uplift the following in the development of future levy oversight committee.
Diverse representation, compensation.
We offer our expertise to support the oversight committee.
We support distributing levy investments equitably.
Equitable investments lead to cost savings, better health outcomes, and a thriving community.
Together, we can create a transportation system that is safe, accessible, and equitable for all Seattle residents.
Thank you for your commitment to equity and considering our recommendations.
We look forward to continued collaboration.
Thank you.
The next speaker is Lily Hayward, and followed by that is Clara Kanter.
Good afternoon, Chair Saka and council members.
My name is Lily Hayward, and I am here today on behalf of the nearly 2,500 members of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber came to the table with the mayor's office and SDOT during the development of the levy renewal because a thriving and inclusive regional economy, which is our mission, is predicated on the safe and efficient movement of people and goods.
To chamber members, that means investing equitably all across the city in roads, bridges, and safety, doing the same in improving transit and freight routes, and prioritizing downtown Seattle.
As you review the mayor's proposal, we urge you to maintain the proposed renewal rate, which strikes the right balance of meeting our pressing needs, passing a deliverable levy, and keeping in mind voter concern about affordability.
We also ask that you allocate additional funding for freight and maintain funding for Third Avenue and add the Levee Oversight Committee's recommendations to enhance their oversight role.
We also ask that you increase the general fund contribution to transportation to $60 million a year, adjusted annually for inflation.
And finally, we ask that you request SDOT prepare an implementation plan so delivery can begin on day one of the new levee.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
The next speaker is Clara Kanter, and followed by that will be Kirk Hovenkatter.
Hi, everyone.
My name is Clara Cantor.
I'm a community organizer with Seattle Neighborhood Greenways.
And I've spoken to many of you in that professional capacity as a transportation advocate.
I'd just like to say a few things like as a person who lives in District 2, who gets around by bike in transit with my kids, I didn't study transportation or planning.
I got into this work because I was biking to get around the city and it was really hard.
And I thought to myself, I wonder if there are ways that I could help to make this easier.
And now I spend my whole life talking about transportation.
And I'm just here to tell you that every time that I walk down the street in front of my house with my kids and there's no sidewalk there, Every time I bike to work where there's no safe connected route for me to get anywhere in any direction from where I live.
Every time I take the bus and it's running 15 minutes late, like it was when I came to city hall today.
All of those experiences that happen every single day are a result of policy decisions that are made right here in City Hall by you all, by the mayor's office.
And you all have the power right now to change that.
You have the power to choose to build sidewalks and bus lanes and bike lanes and the safety projects that Seattle desperately needs or not to.
And You know, I think that it's very easy to get really lost in the policies and the numbers and in the metrics of things and forget about the ways that this impacts individual lives in Seattle and the way that people get around every single day.
And I'm just here to say I'm a voter.
I make well below what the average Seattleite makes and I support it.
I would pay my share for a $1.7 or $1.9 billion levy that would make it safer for all of us to get around.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
The next speaker is Kirk Hovenkotter, followed by that will be Tyler Vasquez.
President Nelson, Chair Saka, and members of the Select Committee, my name is Kirk Hovenkotter.
I'm the Executive Director of Transportation Choices Coalition.
We're the nonprofit advocate that brings people together to advocate for safe, sustainable, and equitable transportation across Washington.
The Seattle Transportation Levy proposal includes years of work from staff, the community, electeds, and the business community.
We would like to thank everyone for their tireless efforts getting us here today.
This levy will be a historic and needed investment into safety, popular programs, and the nuts and bolts of our transportation system.
We appreciate that the mayor was receptive to feedback from the community and strengthened this proposal.
Seattle must invest in transportation to become a more safer and accessible city.
This levy proposal will do that.
This proposal invests in the basics of a 21st century city.
We're excited to see a total investment of $145 million for safe and reliable transit connections, and $144 million in bicycle safety, an additional $135 million in pedestrian safety.
We strongly support using equity as a lens for these investments.
And keep in mind, our transportation system is one that connects our entire city together and benefits us all.
Our lives transcend our council districts.
We live, work, and play across Seattle.
And we know that every transit trip starts at our front door.
So we applaud the commitment to accelerate sidewalk spending and build over 250 blocks of sidewalk within the first four years.
Additionally, invest in safety, including safe routes to school, $70 million in Division Zero, and a commitment to target investments in some of our most dangerous streets like Aurora.
We ask that you consider building on this levy proposal with additional strategic investments that help achieve our safety, equity, and climate goal.
accountability and equity in this by working with the Levy Oversight Committee.
I thank you for your time and your consideration.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Our next in-person speaker is Tyler Vasquez, and followed by that is our final in-person speaker, Carlo Alcantara.
Good afternoon.
My name is Tyler Vasquez, and I am a transportation advocate.
with Cascade Bicycle Club, but more importantly, I'm a Seattleite.
There's several gaps in the bike network.
Prior to Cascade, I was a general laborer on a construction site moving material.
I had to bike from the Central District to White Center daily.
My car broke down and there was several gaps that I needed to leave earlier because there was no bike infrastructure and I made sure if I got there on time that I wasn't fired.
There's many people across Seattle that are in the same boat that I am.
And these are the voices that I wanna make sure that are lifted up while I speak for the bike network.
Biking is an affordable way to get around and it's easy for people to make sure that they could get back on the bicycle.
We wanna make sure that through elementary school, through the time that they are my age and your age, they're able to get around safely.
The mayor's proposal is substantial, but also it does the fundamentals to the bike program.
It fills the gaps and it also provides maintenance to the bike network.
So individuals in the winter time in Seattle can use a bike lane and make sure that it's not obstructed, that it's maintained, and also it's safe.
I want to thank you for your time today, and I also want to thank you for your time as a Seattleite working on the Seattle Transportation Levy.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Our final in-person speaker will be Carlo Alcantara.
Hello.
My name is Carlo.
I'm a D5 resident up in North Seattle.
I get primarily around now by walking, taking public transit, the light rail.
I also drive when it necessitates, but I loathe sitting in traffic and I'd prefer to take transit and walk.
But unfortunately, I just can't access most of the city or a good portion of it without driving.
My wife similarly walks and takes public transit when she can, but she suffers from a disability and doesn't drive.
She's part of the 10 to 12% or so of people in the state who are disabled and who can't get around by car.
That's somewhere around 90,000 people or so in Seattle alone who may need a car or may not be able to drive.
statistically, according to our census data.
These are just our community members, our family, our friends, veterans, et cetera, but people who depend on public transit to get around.
that just can't drive.
For example, in March of this year, just according to King County Metro's counting of what they call missed stops or pickups along like the E line, they have a statistic for wheelchair overload, which means someone in a wheelchair got left because there wasn't enough room.
In March on the E line, that was 50 people or 50 missed stops.
For the entirety of March, for all their bus lines, that was 170 people that just got left because the bus was too full for them to fit a wheelchair on.
So I want to express gratitude again to Council Member Moore for championing more sidewalks, but the 250 that's promised in this levy isn't anywhere close to what we need to fill out the 11,000 or so that are missing.
So I'll vote for a $1.7 million levy.
I'll vote for a bigger one.
So will the voters and the disabled who need public transit to get around.
Thanks for your time.
Thank you.
Our first remote speaker is Chris Woodward.
Chris, you may need to press star six to unmute yourself.
Looks like he's not unmuted.
Should we move on to Jake?
Jake Danis?
Jake will be followed by Sabrina Boulay.
Go ahead, Jake.
Hello, my name is Jake Danis.
Hello, my name is Jake Danis, and I'm a project manager at Duwamish Tribal Services.
DTS operates the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center in West Seattle, open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
We thank the city for recent safety improvements along the marginal way southwest, including the installation of a new crosswalk, sidewalk, and protected bike lane.
Looking forward, we ask the city to continue to engage with DPS and focus on longer-term planning to create a cultural destination district for all to visit and learn about the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish.
Specifically, we ask the city to invest in the following transportation safety improvements.
One, extend the protected bike lane to the Duwamish Longhouse so cyclists don't need to cross the road going down on traffic and freight.
Two, install permanent bike racks adjacent to the Longhouse for cyclists to use while they visit.
Three, add signage along the approaching bike path to make the Longhouse easier to find.
Four, add adequate and prominent signage on and below the West Seattle Bridge so drivers can easily find the Longhouse.
and five, West marginal way Southwest is a highly trafficked freight corridor causing regular debris buildup and the new protected bike lane.
So we request regular, at least monthly, sweeping and maintenance, especially to remove sharp debris that can puncture tires.
Lastly, Duwamish Tribal Services would like to ask the city to work with King County Metro to coordinate a bus route to be assigned along West marginal way Southwest.
The Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center was opened in 2009, so we've been asking for a bus access for over 15 years now.
Please include a bus stop installation in your plan.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Okay, it looks like Chris is present.
So Chris Woodward, please press star six to unmute.
One more time, please, star six, and then you should be good.
Go ahead.
Go ahead, Chris.
Okay, sorry about that, technical issue.
Hi, good afternoon, my name's Chris Woodward.
I represent the Alliance for Pioneer Square.
We're in District One.
The Alliance is an economic development nonprofit working for the betterment of the Pioneer Square Historic District.
First off, thanks to all the staff who worked tirelessly to create a comprehensive proposal.
I'm providing comment regarding the transit levy as it relates to allocation of funding of $3 million to address the critical need of street wall repairs within Pioneer Square.
The city has recognized the importance of a systemic approach to address these structural vulnerabilities for decades.
yet has not designated sufficient resources to this program to ensure an adequate response.
This infrastructure is critical for life safety and must be addressed.
Currently, the levy, which includes projects for the next nine years, does not address or does not provide adequate planning or implementation for a long-term remediation of the historic street walls under the city's jurisdiction.
A complex infrastructure issue such as this requires a nuanced approach to funding, monitoring, maintenance and repair as such the alliance requests that the area areaway remediation is increased to 10 million in the 2024 package that will go before voters time is of the essence let us choose to prioritize and invest in the long-term health of these invaluable historical spaces ensuring the heart of our historic district remains intact for decades to come additionally we support the inclusion of the occidental prominent projects a keystone project for Pioneer Square, a stadium district, and South downtown.
Thank you for your attention to these matters.
Our next remote speaker, Sabrina Beaulieu, followed by that will be Julie Yuan.
Sabrina, you may need to press star six to unmute.
Sabrina can you press star six.
Okay, for now we'll move on to Julie one and then we'll try Sabrina again go ahead Julie.
City Council members, my name is Julie on and i'm the public loan coordinator at the Seattle Chinatown international district preservation and development authority.
also known as SCIPDA.
I would like to emphasize the importance of supporting alley revitalization in the Chinatown International District, or CID.
I appreciate that the CID alleys are included in the transportation levy proposal draft under people, streets, and public spaces.
I would like to urge the Council to keep the CID alley revitalization in the proposal, recognizing their importance and the opportunity to enhance these multi-faceted public spaces.
The CID has very little public green space, so historically, alleys have been vital gathering spaces serving as gathering areas for our community.
Today, they continue to host community events, support small businesses, and provide walkways for residents and visitors.
For over 15 years, community organizations in the CID have worked on alley revitalization plans for Maynard Alley and students for Canton and Mihomachi Alley.
The plans aim to enhance these public spaces while preserving their unique histories and community desires, and their implementation needs to be resourced.
It is vital that the 2024 transportation library supports CID alley revitalization.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay, our next remote speaker is Ruth Williams.
Go ahead, Ruth.
No.
Hello.
Hello.
Ruth, we had you please press star six one more time and then begin speaking.
There you go.
OK, for now, we should probably move on to David Aaron.
And after David Aaron, we will try Ruth again.
Go ahead, David.
Okay.
Hi, my name is Dave Aaron and I am a resident and tax payer in district five.
And I'm noting that my property tax has gone up about 30% over the last three years.
And I'm looking at the new, the new levy and just thinking is that is the money being spent on bikes really necessary?
And couldn't that be used in a different way?
I drive through Seattle, and I don't see a lot of people on bikes.
I am a bicyclist myself, but I know that I can't, you know, I'm not going to be biking east-west because of the hills in any legitimate way, and that the money would probably be better off on buses.
Thank you.
I think your next speaker will be Damian Dodden.
And following Damian will be Reed Hampton.
Hi.
Hi, yeah, my name is Damian.
I'm a resident of D6.
Yeah.
Ground transportation makes up about 60% of Seattle's carbon emissions.
This air and noise pollution is concentrated along highways, high speed, great routes and other arterials built on top of and through low income neighborhoods and communities of color.
And Seattle continues to build affordable housing almost exclusively along these corridors.
We need a levy that dedicates at least 50% of funding to increasing walking, rolling, biking, taking transit instead of maintaining the status quo.
I urge council and the mayor to push for a $1.7 billion package.
This voter will definitely support that.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Reid Hampton and then we'll go back and try Sabrina and Ruth.
Go ahead Reid.
REID HAMPTON Hi folks.
I hope you can hear me.
My name is Reid Hampton.
I'm a resident of District 6 in northwest Seattle.
I am calling today to let the council a 1.7 to even 1.9 billion dollar levy We need to be investing in a Seattle that meets the climate goals that we have set, the Vision Zero goals that we have set, and we need to live up to that ambition.
And we do that through our budget, right?
And, you know, I know some people aren't going to bike east or west over the hills.
I bike today to and from work, even in this rain.
And I think that our city needs to be investing in the infrastructure that is going to be affordable for us to maintain long term.
As mentioned earlier this morning, bike and bus lanes are less expensive on a per passenger mile compared to private vehicles.
They're more climate friendly, they're more climate adaptive, and they're more sustainable.
And I am really hoping that this council will be ambitious and live up to those goals that we set as a city.
know that this voter will also vote for a $1.7 to $1.9 billion levy and will very much consider not voting for a levy that doesn't prioritize it.
So thank you very much for your time and have a great rest of your day.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And we'll try Sabrina Boulay and following Sabrina will be Ruth.
Go ahead, Sabrina, and you may need to press star six.
All right, doesn't look like we're going to be able to get Sabrina.
Ruth Williams, if you're still there, please press star six.
There you go.
Can you hear me?
Yes.
Oh, well, that's really OK.
Thank you.
Hello, I'm Ruth Williams speaking as an individual.
And I thank you for this repeated opportunity to speak today.
I live in the southeast quadrant of Northgate, the area south of Northgate Way and east of Fifth Avenue Northeast, that's D5.
And this quadrant contains Beaver Pond Natural Area, the largest park in the Northgate overlay.
I'd like to draw your attention to the 2006 Northgate Coordinated Transportation Improvement Plan, affectionately known as NCTIP.
The CTIP cost thousands of dollars and untold stakeholder and professional hours and was approved by the city council.
Despite its age, it is still a valid working document.
High priority tasks listed there are still languishing.
Beaver Pond Natural Area has no safe access at its most visible point at 8th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 105th Street.
CTIP high priority task B3 calls for a sidewalk along one side of 8th Avenue Northeast.
High-priority task E8 calls for both left and right turns from 8th Avenue, where it meets North Gateway from the south.
We've been waiting nearly two decades now.
8th Avenue Northeast was listed in the category of Green Street in the C-TIP and many other working documents.
Now, they call it a Greenway, and they have added limited amenities for bicycles.
This isn't really helping pedestrians, including the handicapped.
and the poorly maintained street lacks any semblance of appeal.
Beyond 8th Avenue, our sidewalk-free neighborhoods are already being impacted by improper planning.
Vehicles belonging to residents of new multi-family buildings with expensive or insufficient parking are filling the rights-of-way and forcing pedestrians out into newly narrowed streets.
We need sidewalks, but we need them to be sustainable and accessible.
Creativity Creativity is needed to clean and slow the runoff and also to protect our mature trees.
I support a strong transportation levy and I would like to see the funds spent wisely.
Thank you for your consideration.
Thank you.
That's our last remote speaker and I believe we have one more in-person speaker.
All right, let's do it.
Yes, Alison Warp.
Hi, I'm Allison Warp.
I live on First Hill, District 3. Seattle seems to have given up on toilets for the public.
And I was in Nordstrom's Rack Sale, and I ran down 3rd Avenue to catch a bus, and I could hardly breathe.
because of the stench.
And I would like to suggest perhaps running a test with porta potties near exits to the link.
In Tukwila, one of those restrooms saved my life.
Well, it saved me from embarrassment because sometimes you have emergencies and you really need some restroom.
Sorry to go this low, but it's a common problem.
And I think if 3rd Avenue had some porta potties, say on Pike by McDonald's between 2nd and 3rd, where buildings are already boarded up, maybe 3rd Avenue wouldn't smell so bad.
And I know we want to have a more active downtown.
So I hope you will take my suggestion seriously.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I believe that's all of our commenters.
Thank you.
Go Storm.
All right.
Well, thank you, everyone.
It sounds like that was our last registered speaker present to speak at this public hearing.
Therefore, the public hearing on Council Bill 120788 is now closed, meaning we have reached the end of today's meeting agenda.
Is there any further business to come before the committee before we adjourn?
Hearing none, no further business to come before the committee, we are adjourned.
It is 5.26 p.m.