Fwd: ACT NOW: Don’t Defund Sidewalks and Transit in Seattle’s Transportation Levy
Clara Cantor
- Endorsing org form – Sign up yourselves or share with other orgs that might be interested
- Volunteer signup – please share and/or sign up!
- Group bike & transit rides - West Seattle Bike Connections is already planning a group bike ride to the event, as well as Ampersand Bike Club. If you are interested in planning/leading a group ride to Jimi Hendrix Park, let me know and we'll share it out with folks!
From: Clara Cantor <cl...@seattlegreenways.org>
Date: Tue, Apr 9, 2024 at 4:50 PM
Subject: ACT NOW: Don’t Defund Sidewalks and Transit in Seattle’s Transportation Levy
To: <cl...@seattlegreenways.org>
Last week, Mayor Harrell released his draft proposal for the next levy that will fund our transportation projects for the next 8 years, and it won’t get us where we need to go.
ACT NOW to push back on cuts to sidewalks and transit funding.
Seattle needs a levy that puts us on track to meet our city’s climate, safety, and equity goals. These are commitments that the city has already made. But these goals don’t mean anything if we don’t fund them. Now is the time to put our money where our mouth is!
At a time when we need to be investing more, his draft proposal:
- Slashes pedestrian funding by $32 million (23%), compared to current levy spending, adjusted for inflation.
- Slashes transit funding by $52 million (30%)
- Increases car-focused spending by $189 million (33%), bringing this bucket dramatically out of balance with other spending.
ACT NOW to push back on dramatic cuts to sidewalks and transit funding.
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, together with Disability Rights Washington, and 13 other organizations (and counting!) are pushing to right these wrongs.
Our Demands:
- Dedicate at least 50% of levy funding to improvements for people walking, rolling, biking, and riding transit (a minimum!)
- Prioritize levy funding for historically disinvested communities that do not yet have safe walking and biking infrastructure.
- Propose a larger levy total of at least $1.7B.
Specifically, we’re pushing for funding for:
- Accessibility — sidewalks and crosswalks: Dramatically increase the funding to build sidewalks. The Mayor’s proposal will support building just 250 blocks of sidewalks – only 2% of the city blocks where they are currently missing. At this rate, people with disabilities will have to wait over 400 years to move safely and freely in our city.
- Safety — Vision Zero: Add funding to cover safety redesigns on the 5 most dangerous streets in Seattle: Aurora Ave N, MLK Way S, 4th Ave S, Rainier Ave S, and Lake City Way.
- Transit Reliability: Reverse cuts to the transit program to ensure buses are efficient and reliable.
- Equitable Bike Routes: Add funding to maintain bike programs, adjusted for construction cost inflation. Prioritize bike projects to complete a connected bike network through South Seattle, including a convenient direct arterial route north-south through the Rainier Valley.
- Anti-Displacement Work: Add funding for community-led planning and land acquisition to prepare for light rail expansion in Graham Street and C/ID to help communities remain rooted in place.
- Urban Freeway Mitigation: Add funding to mitigate the environmental, social, and economic impacts impact highways have on our communities.
- Livability: Add funding for accessible public restrooms for transit hubs, light rail stations, and public gathering spaces to make our transportation system accessible for families, elders, unhoused people, and more.
Click here to see the full set of demands.
Eight-year funding needs are defined by the Seattle Transportation Plan EIS as per our February 2024 report.
TAKE ACTION NOW:
- Send an email to the Mayor and City Council to push back on dramatic cuts to sidewalks and transit funding.
- Join us for a community event on Saturday, April 20, at 2:00 pm at Jimi Hendrix Park to celebrate Earth Day by pushing for more housing and better transportation.
- Please join us for Transportation and Housing for a Healthy Future Rally on Saturday, April 20, at 2:00 pm at Jimi Hendrix Park. There will be performers, games, food, and speakers to celebrate Earth Day by pushing for more housing and better transportation.
- Respond to the SDOT online engagement hub about the proposed Seattle Transportation Levy, and attend an outreach event.
- Support Seattle Neighborhood Greenways by volunteering with us or donating to support our work.
Thank you for your continued advocacy!
Be Well,
Clara
Clara Cantor
she/her
Community Organizer
Seattle Neighborhood Greenways
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