The transportation levy spends money in the following 10 categories (with some subcategories highlighted):
2024 Seattle Transportation Levy breakdown
Street Maintenance & Modernization $403M
Arterial Roadway Maintenance $330M
Paving Spots $67M
Markings $6M
Bridges & Structures $221M
Pedestrian Safety $193M
Vision Zero, School & Neighborhood Safety $160.5M
Transit Corridors & Connections $151M
Transit Improvements and Access to Light Rail $115M
Transit Spot Improvements $27M
Transit Passenger Safety $9M
Bicycle Safety $133.5M
Signals & Operations $100M
Climate & Resiliency $69M
People Streets & Public Spaces $66.5
Freight & Goods Movement $45M
Good Governance and Oversight $7.5M
Below will provide a bit more detailed analysis of transit corridors listed in order from major to moderate to minor (this designation was self-created and not part of the levy). To provide a clearer picture of the levy’s impact, projects have been grouped by corridor, regardless of specific funding category.
Please note, the categories are somewhat vague about the actual spending per project and the project descriptions are not concrete enough. The below project cost estimates require some guesswork and the project descriptions require combining possible plans both from the Seattle Transportation Plan (STP) and King County Metro’s Improvement Studies.
Transit Projects
Seattle Transportation Levy: Transit Corridors and Connections MapSeattle Transportation Levy – Transit Corridors and Connections
$151 million was allocated to transit corridors and connections, with $115 million for (major) transit improvements and access to light rail connections, $27 million for transit spot improvements, and $9 million for transit passenger safety.
The $115 million dollars will be spent mostly on 4 high-ridership bus corridors of Rainier Ave S, Beacon Ave S, Aurora Ave N and Denny Way/ Olive Way as well as light rail connection improvement projects.
Light Rail connection improvements
SDOT will implement 11 light rail station access projects by improving bus stops, pedestrian crossings, bike lanes and lighting.
This section will discuss ‘major’ transit improvements, particularly those adding bus lanes and high-ridership routes. Assuming an even distribution of funds, each of the four high-ridership bus projects could receive approximately $15 million after allocating $55 million to the 10 light rail connection projects. There’s also state and federal grants that provide more money beyond what is listed, but this analysis only considers confirmed funding sources.
Aurora Ave N / RapidRide E
Aurora Avenue N is currently under study for major transit improvements from South Lake Union (Roy Street) to the northern Seattle limits (N 145th St). RapidRide E currently runs along the corridor from Shoreline to downtown Seattle.
Previously Aurora Ave N was expanded by WSDOT to seven lanes with the outer lanes serving as BAT lanes.!
Walkable Boulevard Alternative on Aurora Avenue
Center Running Bus Lane Alternative on Aurora Avenue
Potential improvements involve continuing the right-side bus lanes with possibly widened sidewalks and additional intersections for better pedestrian access across Aurora Avenue.
Or alternatively converting the transit corridor to have center median bus lanes, with the lanes veering for right-side bus stations. More signalized intersections would be added for walkability (and also to access the median bus stations).
Category / Project
Amount
Vision Zero School & Neighbor Safety / Aurora Avenue N Safety
Aurora Avenue N improvements has $50 million dollars from WSDOT as well as another $30 million allocated from the Vision Zero category totaling around $95 million dollars to revamp the corridor.
Rainier Ave S / Route 7
The second major transit corridor for improvements is Rainier Avenue S. Route 7 runs along the corridor from downtown Seattle to Rainier Beach. After the recent 2023 Route 7 transit plus improvements and currently under construction Rainier Ave S northbound bus lanes, there are plans to continue those improvements with the conversion to RapidRide R in 2030.
Category / Project
Amount
Arterial Roadway Maintenance / Rainier Ave S from S Walden St to S Jackson St
$22? million (naive estimate)
Arterial Roadway Maintenance / S Henderson St from MLK Jr Way S to Seward Park Ave S
$22? million
Vision Zero / Rainer Ave S
$6? million (naive estimate)
(Major) Transit Improvements
$15? million
Similar to Aurora Ave N above, Rainier Ave S improvements receives funding from other categories as well. Unfortunately it is much harder to estimate how much will actually be spent given the only cost breakdown is the larger category. Nevertheless SDOT might spend around $65? million dollars along the path of route 7 and is prioritizing the repaving as an initial project.
Seattle Transportation Plan project 67
The Seattle Transportation Plan described the northern Rainier Ave S project as possibly adding freight-and-bus lanes. The levy renewal proposal stated the two arterial projects as:
Rainier Ave S from S Walden St to S Jackson St: Street reconstruction and paving to support RapidRide R Line. Includes bus lanes, improved crossings, sidewalk expansion and repair, trees, pedestrian lighting, safety updates, better access to the Judkins Park Station, and evaluation of protected bike lanes.
S Henderson St from MLK Jr Way S to Seward Park Ave S: Street reconstruction to support RapidRide R Line and better connect Rainier Beach Station with the community, schools, and Be’er Sheva Park. Includes protected bike lanes, crossing improvements, and sidewalk repair, as well as elements from the Recreating Henderson Street plan.
The third major transit corridor improvement is Beacon Ave S. Route 36 runs along the corridor from Downtown Seattle via Beacon Hill to Othello Station.
The arterial maintenance project specified:
Beacon Ave S from 39th Ave S to Jose Rizal Bridge: Street redesign for more reliable Route 36 service and to extend protected bike lanes and trails. Includes paving, sidewalk repairs, and crossing improvements to improve safety and accessibility.
SDOT will likely add BAT lanes at major intersections for Beacon Ave S as referenced in previous KCM studies.
Category / Project
Amount
(Major) Transit Improvements
$15? million
Arterial Roadway Maintenance / Beacon Ave S to support Route 36 improvements
$22? million
Bicycle Safety / Beacon Ave S Middle and South Segment
Couple million but for bike improvements
The corridor’s bike improvements will be discussed in a separate article.
Denny Way, Olive Way, and Harrison Street / Route 8
The fourth major transit corridor improvement is Denny Way which acts as the major (and only) east-west route from Uptown through South Lake Union to Capitol Hill. Route 8 runs from Uptown to Capitol Hill Station along Denny Way then eventually continuing south to Mt Baker.
Denny Way Multimodal Improvements from Seattle Transportation Plan
There aren’t many details in the levy, so assumed information from the STP. Considering the narrow width of the corridor with only 4 lanes and “redesigning the street to better support transit and freight vehicles” perhaps a freight-and-bus lane might be added/extended on Denny Way. The other transit project is the “South Lake Union East-West Transit Connections” likely referring to the Harrison and Mercer Transit Access Project.
Harrison and Mercer Transit Access Project
The Transit Access project would convert Harrison Street to a new transit-only street across South Lake Union. Currently the project is in the 10% design phase and plans to finish construction in 2026. Originally King County Metro planned to reroute Route 8 along this corridor to avoid the I-5 bound drivers on Denny Way, however after some local opposition it is unknown if KCM will continue with modifying Route 8’s alignment.
4th Ave / Routes 131+132, 101, 150, 59Xs
4th Avenue S Multimodal improvements map from Seattle Transportation Plan
The fifth major transit corridor improvement is 4th avenue. Currently serving as the north-south connection from downtown Seattle to SODO and Georgetown, it’ll also serve as the replacement busway if the SODO busway is removed as part of the West Seattle Link Extension. Routes 131 and 132 to White Center and South Park already run on 4th Avenue, while Route 101 to Renton and Route 150 to Kent will likely relocate to 4th Avenue as well.
Sound Transit proposed southbound bus queue jumps at targeted intersections and a northbound FAB (freight-and-bus) lane while SDOT has recommended a larger revamp of the corridor with continuous northbound and southbound BAT lanes. The Urbanist article about 4th Avenue Transit Street discusses it more.
Moderate Transit Improvements
Map of Street Maintenance & Modernization, Bridges & Structures projects
These moderate transit projects were described in the Transit Corridors’ light rail connection projects or in the Street Maintenance & Modernization Projects that consisted of some transit related elements. Above is a map showing all of Street Maintenance Modernization projects, while below is a smaller subset list of transit-related projects
N 130th from 1st Ave NW to I-5: Paving with a safety redesign to better connect people to the future 130th St Station. Includes protected bike lanes, crossing improvements, trees, sidewalk reconstruction, and transit priority.
23rd Ave E / 24th Ave E from E John St to E Lake Washington Blvd: Reconstruction and paving, including a corridor safety analysis, additional transit investment, and crossing improvements, sidewalk repair, and neighborhood greenway upgrades.
James St from 3rd Ave to Broadway: Street reconstruction to support high-volume traffic and bus service. Includes upgrades to sidewalks and traffic signals, pedestrian safety redesigns, and landscaping and trees.
The rest of the Arterial Roadway Maintenance projects were already discussed in the “major” transit corridors or alternatively did not include any transit elements.
N 130th St / (Future) Route 77
N 130th St Project Area
Future Route 77 Map
Paving with a safety redesign to better connect people to the future 130th St Station. Includes protected bike lanes, crossing improvements, trees, sidewalk reconstruction, and transit priority.
The related project on N 130th St from 1st Ave NW to I-5 consists of the Bitter Lake to Haller Lake Mobility Improvements project. The project proposes to add protected bike lanes along the corridor and floating bus stops.
Future bus Route 77 will run along the corridor, connecting Bitter Lake and Lake City neighborhoods to the NE 130th St Station. Currently no buses run from Bitter Lake to Lake City directly.
23rd Ave E & 24th Ave E / Route 48
23rd Avenue Corridor Improvements and Vision Zero map
The second moderate transit project is improving 23rd Ave & 24th Ave E north of E Madison Street. The 23rd avenue corridor is currently used by Route 48 traveling between U District and Mt Baker. Previous projects by SDOT already converted the southern half of the road with road diets from 4 general lanes to usually 3 general lanes with center left turn lanes. The 23rd Ave Corridor Improvements phase 1 and 2 rebuilt 23rd avenue south of E Madison Street, while phase 3 only added some minor intersection treatments.
The arterial roadway maintenance project 23rd Ave & 24th Ave E will rebuild the northern segment and possibly add BAT lanes along the corridor.
James St / Routes 3 + 4
The third moderate transit project is James Street. A key east-west corridor for high bus-ridership Routes 3 and 4, James Street faces limitations due to its narrow width of only 4 lanes and proximity to I-5 ramps. SDOT is exploring adding BAT lanes on James Street though likely faces high opposition from WSDOT, while adding just transit signal priority will be hampered by I-5 freeway traffic.
Minor Transit Improvements
The other projects have more minor transit improvements.
35th Ave SW from SW Morgan St to SW Holden St: Street reconstruction with a corridor safety analysis and evaluation of transit improvements. Includes sidewalk repair, crossing improvements, and evaluation of bike routes.
15th Ave NE & Roosevelt Way Ne from NE 92nd St to NE 145th St: Paving with redesign for safer speeds, including upgraded and expanded protected bike lanes and bus stops, pedestrian lighting, sidewalks, and crossings.
S Albro Pl, Corson Ave S, & Ellis Ave S: East Marginal Way S to I-5: Pavement preservation project with improved crossings, sidewalk repair, and an enhanced pedestrian environment. Includes evaluation for safety and transit improvements.
E Marginal Way S from 1st Ave S to 16th Ave S: Leverages grant funding to restore pavement, evaluate safety improvements, and make sidewalk repairs and small upgrades to transit
Transit Spot Improvements
SDOT will implement 160 transit spot improvements focusing on “pinch points”. Starting off with four transit spot improvement projects at:
SW Oregon St between 44th Ave SW and California Ave SW along Route 50 and Route 128
MLK Jr Way S between S Myrtle St and S Othello St along Route 106
E Jefferson St between 9th Ave and 12th Ave along Route 3 and Route 4
W Nickerson St between 3rd Ave W and 4th Ave N along Route 31 and Route 32
These will generally improve two to three blocks and probably entail minor BAT lanes and transit signal priority.
Conclusion
The Seattle Transportation Levy will improve Seattleites’ transit reliability, pedestrian mobility and bike-ability. The new bus lanes on the four major transit improvement corridors as well as others will improve both transit speed and reliability. The 360 improved blocks of sidewalks and ramps will improve pedestrian mobility. And the new bike protected bike lanes in South Seattle and other areas will improve bike-ability. Hopefully SDOT will continue the great progress they have already made and potentially improve the city’s transportation even beyond what is listed here.
Documents
Feel free to read more about the levy and transportation plan, or associated transit plans.
10 Replies to “Seattle Transportation Levy Passes”
Great write up! These long documents can be such a pain to pour over so I appreciate the excellent summary!
I know a lot of us (myself included) get frustrated at our various public agencies for not spending enough on transit improvements, or spending too much on projects that don’t make sense, or taking too long on projects, but it is reassuring that at least a good-faith effort is being made to improve our region’s transportation and mobility network – something that we are doing a lot better than a lot of other cities across the country!
To me this reads like a shopping list. I realize that our regional transit culture is pre-disposed to shopping lists — but with so many varied projects it would seem that these ballot measures should have some sort of evaluation metrics established to help identify what’s the best value to the public. Not only would it help select which projects offer the most value, but it can more clearly define the goals of each project leading to better designs.
For example, is it better to have a bus lane or bike lane? Travel time per person, safety, reliability, impacts to adjacent property, greenhouse gas emissions and other criteria would ideally be evaluated. To me it’s better than doing it the way that Seattle typically does it — proposing a vague list of projects way more than is realistic and letting opposition or apathy sink enough projects until those still left floating get the funds.
Hi al, the levy is for 8 years, it’d be more surprising if there wasn’t at least a list of projects. There are more projects in the Seattle transportation plan but I’ve highlighted the ones talked about explicitly in the levy measure
> sort of evaluation metrics
The major transit projects were already done by high ridership. There more metrics in the stp but it generally just comes to the same conclusion of improving the bus routes with the most riders so I didn’t bother talking about it more
Yeah, if you asked any city in America what transportation improvements they would like to make it will look like a shopping list. This is as it should be. If someone says “The only thing we need to build is the Johnson Memorial Bridge/Highway/Bike Path/Subway/Sidewalk/Busway” they are full of it. Cities should make incremental improvements and cities need to make incremental improvements.
And they do evaluate the changes based on cost and efficacy. They are trying to get the most bang for the buck. But with something this broad there is bound to be an apples and oranges situation. How can you measure the impact of sidewalks versus a transit improvement? They are two very different thing. Both improve safety, but in very different ways. Sidewalks make life better for that particular area, but improving transit has a more widespread effect. As transit gets better, fewer people drive. With fewer people driving, the city is safer. With bikes it is somewhere in between. Safe bike paths can get people out of their car. But there are only so many people who will bike. At the same time, a lot of the people who do bike will bike either way. So (like sidewalks) the bike path makes travel a lot more pleasant and a lot safer.
Then you have improving freight travel. This is not really about safety, but it is still an important goal. The city runs much better if the trucks that deliver the goods are stuck in traffic. Same goes for people getting around. Even if improving transit or bike paths wasn’t a safety improvement it is still good if people can get from one place to another quickly (without using a car).
I’m noticing “moderate transit improvement” #24: W Dravus St over railyard appears to be a study for future replacement. It would be terrible for East Magnolia residents if that replacement occurs after the opening of the Interbay light rail station, because without that bridge pedestrian access would be a nightmare.
Hi Delta, that’s part of the “Bridges & Structures” fixes. It’s not a transit project, but in either case the levy does not specify what exactly will be implemented there. it might just be some minor repaving and double checking that the structure is safe.
As far as I know, sdot is prioritizing replacing the magnolia bridge first.
Yeah, I think the Magnolia Bridge replacement project is its own beast. It is bound to be very controversial, no matter what they decide to do. Personally I would build a second Dravus street bridge with four lanes (two of which are transit-only). Then I would spend as little as possible on allowing access to the tiny amount of property that would lose it once we get rid of the Magnolia Bridge. That would be the cheapest option and yet it would do the job well (in my opinion). The buses would be pushed to Interbay, but I think that is a good thing.
Thanks for this write-up! Just a note that the Graham St light rail connections are not related to the Columbia City Station, but rather to improve access to the future Graham Street Station planned to open between Columbia City and Othello around 2031: https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/graham-street-station
hi thanks for the call out, I’ve edited it.
I’m writing up a follow up article about the bike improvements so it’ll be there. But if you want to know about it more, it’s project 45 in the seattle transporation plan.
It says
> Adding an all ages and abilities westbound bicycle route and, due to right-of-way constraints, alternative improvements along the eastbound route
Most likely a new street configuration of a ~3 lanes
[west bound protected bike lane, west bound straight/right general lane, west bound left lane, then east bound general lane]
For eastbound route, I guess they might either try to slightly widen the sidewalk or maybe some greenway path.
Considering the narrow width of the [Denny] corridor with only 4 lanes and “redesigning the street to better support transit and freight vehicles” perhaps a freight-and-bus lane might be added/extended on Denny Way.
Yes! This would be huge. I think freight-and-bus lanes are the way to go. Both freight and transit are very important and this would improve both quite a bit. Of course just adding bus lanes would improve transit more, but this would still make bus travel much faster and more reliable. It is also very hard for the Sara Nelson’s of the world to object, given that it would make freight travel better. Any objections would be based on the ignorant notion that we need more space for cars (just one more lane, bro).
Great write up! These long documents can be such a pain to pour over so I appreciate the excellent summary!
I know a lot of us (myself included) get frustrated at our various public agencies for not spending enough on transit improvements, or spending too much on projects that don’t make sense, or taking too long on projects, but it is reassuring that at least a good-faith effort is being made to improve our region’s transportation and mobility network – something that we are doing a lot better than a lot of other cities across the country!
To me this reads like a shopping list. I realize that our regional transit culture is pre-disposed to shopping lists — but with so many varied projects it would seem that these ballot measures should have some sort of evaluation metrics established to help identify what’s the best value to the public. Not only would it help select which projects offer the most value, but it can more clearly define the goals of each project leading to better designs.
For example, is it better to have a bus lane or bike lane? Travel time per person, safety, reliability, impacts to adjacent property, greenhouse gas emissions and other criteria would ideally be evaluated. To me it’s better than doing it the way that Seattle typically does it — proposing a vague list of projects way more than is realistic and letting opposition or apathy sink enough projects until those still left floating get the funds.
Hi al, the levy is for 8 years, it’d be more surprising if there wasn’t at least a list of projects. There are more projects in the Seattle transportation plan but I’ve highlighted the ones talked about explicitly in the levy measure
> sort of evaluation metrics
The major transit projects were already done by high ridership. There more metrics in the stp but it generally just comes to the same conclusion of improving the bus routes with the most riders so I didn’t bother talking about it more
Yeah, if you asked any city in America what transportation improvements they would like to make it will look like a shopping list. This is as it should be. If someone says “The only thing we need to build is the Johnson Memorial Bridge/Highway/Bike Path/Subway/Sidewalk/Busway” they are full of it. Cities should make incremental improvements and cities need to make incremental improvements.
And they do evaluate the changes based on cost and efficacy. They are trying to get the most bang for the buck. But with something this broad there is bound to be an apples and oranges situation. How can you measure the impact of sidewalks versus a transit improvement? They are two very different thing. Both improve safety, but in very different ways. Sidewalks make life better for that particular area, but improving transit has a more widespread effect. As transit gets better, fewer people drive. With fewer people driving, the city is safer. With bikes it is somewhere in between. Safe bike paths can get people out of their car. But there are only so many people who will bike. At the same time, a lot of the people who do bike will bike either way. So (like sidewalks) the bike path makes travel a lot more pleasant and a lot safer.
Then you have improving freight travel. This is not really about safety, but it is still an important goal. The city runs much better if the trucks that deliver the goods are stuck in traffic. Same goes for people getting around. Even if improving transit or bike paths wasn’t a safety improvement it is still good if people can get from one place to another quickly (without using a car).
I’m noticing “moderate transit improvement” #24: W Dravus St over railyard appears to be a study for future replacement. It would be terrible for East Magnolia residents if that replacement occurs after the opening of the Interbay light rail station, because without that bridge pedestrian access would be a nightmare.
Hi Delta, that’s part of the “Bridges & Structures” fixes. It’s not a transit project, but in either case the levy does not specify what exactly will be implemented there. it might just be some minor repaving and double checking that the structure is safe.
As far as I know, sdot is prioritizing replacing the magnolia bridge first.
https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/SDOT/BridgeStairsProgram/bridges/Magnolia/Magnolia_SmallTriFold_Panel_Board.pdf
Yeah, I think the Magnolia Bridge replacement project is its own beast. It is bound to be very controversial, no matter what they decide to do. Personally I would build a second Dravus street bridge with four lanes (two of which are transit-only). Then I would spend as little as possible on allowing access to the tiny amount of property that would lose it once we get rid of the Magnolia Bridge. That would be the cheapest option and yet it would do the job well (in my opinion). The buses would be pushed to Interbay, but I think that is a good thing.
Thanks for this write-up! Just a note that the Graham St light rail connections are not related to the Columbia City Station, but rather to improve access to the future Graham Street Station planned to open between Columbia City and Othello around 2031: https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/graham-street-station
hi thanks for the call out, I’ve edited it.
I’m writing up a follow up article about the bike improvements so it’ll be there. But if you want to know about it more, it’s project 45 in the seattle transporation plan.
It says
> Adding an all ages and abilities westbound bicycle route and, due to right-of-way constraints, alternative improvements along the eastbound route
Most likely a new street configuration of a ~3 lanes
[west bound protected bike lane, west bound straight/right general lane, west bound left lane, then east bound general lane]
For eastbound route, I guess they might either try to slightly widen the sidewalk or maybe some greenway path.
Of course anything still might change
https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/SDOT/STP/Appendix_A.pdf
Considering the narrow width of the [Denny] corridor with only 4 lanes and “redesigning the street to better support transit and freight vehicles” perhaps a freight-and-bus lane might be added/extended on Denny Way.
Yes! This would be huge. I think freight-and-bus lanes are the way to go. Both freight and transit are very important and this would improve both quite a bit. Of course just adding bus lanes would improve transit more, but this would still make bus travel much faster and more reliable. It is also very hard for the Sara Nelson’s of the world to object, given that it would make freight travel better. Any objections would be based on the ignorant notion that we need more space for cars (just one more lane, bro).