CITY OF SEATTLE
RESOLUTION __________________
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A RESOLUTION approving the Seattle Transportation Plan and superseding the Transit, Bicycle, Freight, and Pedestrian Master Plans.
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WHEREAS, the transportation system of Seattle is an extraordinary public asset serving a range of needs and travelers and is vital and integral to the City’s economic heath, environmental quality, and social and community fabric; and
WHEREAS, Seattle is projected to grow to nearly 1 million people over the next 20 years, including over 100,000 new homes and 160,000 new jobs, requiring a long-range vision for how to manage and support future demand on the transportation system that is integrated with land use policies; and
WHEREAS, the City of Seattle Comprehensive Plan establishes transportation goals and policies to support planned growth; and
WHEREAS, in 2007, the City Council adopted the Complete Streets Ordinance (Ordinance 122386) establishing a guiding principle to design, operate, and maintain Seattle's streets to promote safe and convenient access and travel for all users- pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and people of all abilities, as well as freight and motor vehicle drivers-while recognizing that all streets are different and in each case user needs must be balanced; and
WHEREAS, Seattle previously has adopted four modal master plans, including the Bicycle Master Plan (adopted in 2014), the Transit Master Plan (adopted in 2012; amended in 2016), the Pedestrian Master Plan (adopted in 2017), and the Freight Master Plan (adopted in 2016); and
WHEREAS, while Seattle is one of the safest cities in the country, more than 10,000 crashes occur each year, resulting in an average of 28 people losing their lives and nearly 180 people seriously injured; and
WHEREAS, Seattle’s Vision Zero goal (zero serious injury or fatal crashes) and Safe Systems approach are centered on encouraging slower speeds, reducing conflict points between travelers, and protecting the safety of the most vulnerable travelers (people walking, rolling, biking, scooting, or riding a motorcycle); and
WHEREAS, careful maintenance of transportation infrastructure today can lessen the expense of increased maintenance tomorrow, including critical safety improvements that keep bridges safe in an earthquake and help Seattle reach its goal of zero serious injury or fatal crashes on Seattle streets; and
WHEREAS, transportation accounts for 61 percent of the City’s core greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and Seattle has a goal to reduce transportation emissions by 82 percent from 2008 levels by 2030 and to reduce them to net zero by 2050; and
WHEREAS, the One Seattle Climate Justice Agenda, Green New Deal and Transportation Equity Framework (TEF) Implementation Plan are centered on partnering with community to ensure those most impacted by systemic racism benefit from City investments and are resourced to thrive in a changing climate and evolving mobility landscape; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order 2022-07 (One Seattle Climate Justice Actions to Reduce Emissions from the Transportation Sector) directed City departments to prioritize and expand actions that advance a more equitable transportation system to reduce GHG emissions and support people hardest hit by climate impacts, including development of Seattle’s Climate Change Response Framework and implementation of Seattle’s Transportation Electrification Blueprint; and
WHEREAS, the impacts of climate events fall disproportionately on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, immigrants, refugees, people with limited English language proficiency, people with disabilities, and low-income residents, coupled with worsened health effects due to disproportionate exposure to pollution from fossil-fuel powered cars and trucks; and
WHEREAS, Seattle is a built-out city where it is difficult to widen existing streets or build new streets, where 66 percent of street right-of-way is currently dedicated to car travel or storage, and where the existing network of streets needs to be able to carry as much of the increasing numbers of people and goods as efficiently as possible, resulting in a need to significantly expand and prioritize sustainable transportation options, like walking, biking or riding transit - especially for neighborhood trips under a few miles; and
WHEREAS, approximately 27 percent (13,500 block equivalents) of Seattle’s streets are missing sidewalks and, at the current rate of new sidewalk construction, it would take more than 400 years before all Seattle streets have sidewalks, and constructing these missing sidewalks will directly advance the Safety, Equity, Sustainability, Mobility & Economic Vitality, Livability, and Maintenance & Modernization STP Goals, along with related City goals regarding improving accessibility and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance; and
WHEREAS, a quality pedestrian network is at the core of an equitable and accessible transportation system, and sidewalks are the building blocks of an effective pedestrian network; and
WHEREAS, incidents such as drive-by shootings are facilitated by the use of motor vehicles and such incidents may be deterred through the use of traffic calming and traffic diversion measures to restrict high-speed vehicles near public schools and in areas with high levels of vehicle-involved violence; and
WHEREAS adequate street lighting can both reduce crime and increase the perception of safety; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has worked with the Mayor and City Council, advisory boards, and commissions to develop the Seattle Transportation Plan, including joint workshops that brought together representatives from different advisory and planning boards to discuss how the City could achieve its goals, along with members of the public who were able to attend and observe; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Transportation Plan was co-created through robust and extensive involvement with community and stakeholders starting in May 2022, including three inclusive phases of engagement that resulted in over 78,000 individual data points from: over 9,000 people; more than 130 community events attended; nearly 100 meeting and briefings; over 60,000 visits to an online engagement hub; and over 170 social media posts; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in disruptions to transportation patterns and behaviors, which have resulted in sustained trends including increased remote work, intra-neighborhood trips, and use of public right-of-way for people uses, alongside reduced downtown commute trips and an associated decline in transportation revenues; and
WHEREAS, the City seeks to reverse these trends to pre-pandemic levels over time, particularly with respect to increasing downtown commute trips and implementing the Downtown Activation Plan; and
WHEREAS, in November 2015, voters approved the nine-year Levy to Move Seattle providing $930,000,000 for safety, maintenance, and expansion of affordable, reliable transportation options-roughly 30 percent of the City's transportation budget-and is set to expire at the end of 2024; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Transportation Plan provides an aspirational menu of potential transportation investments for the next 20 years and includes a guiding prioritization framework to help inform a new levy proposition that reflects community priorities and focuses limited resources to build the projects, implement the programs, and maintain the transportation assets Seattle needs; and
WHEREAS, in August 2023, SDOT published a Draft Environmental Impact Statement analyzing and disclosing the potential effects of three transportation investment scenarios, conducted a public hearing, and received comments from the public on this document; and
WHEREAS, in February 2024, SDOT published a Final Environmental Impact Statement; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Transportation Plan’s 20-year vision is that Seattle is an equitable, vibrant, and diverse city where moving around is safe, fair, and sustainable, and that all people and businesses can access their daily needs and feel connected to their community; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Transportation Plan is guided by values of Safety, Equity, Sustainability, Mobility & Economic Vitality, Livability, and Maintenance & Modernization, and is centered around key moves (strategies) and actions that will advance the Seattle Transportation Plan vision and goals; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Transportation Plan includes bold actions to support progress toward the safety, climate, and equity goals set forth by Seattle’s Vision Zero plan, Climate Change Response Framework, and Transportation Equity Framework and Implementation Plan in alignment with the forthcoming updated Seattle Comprehensive Plan growth strategy; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, THE MAYOR CONCURRING, THAT:
Section 1. The Seattle Transportation Plan (STP), a copy of which is attached to this resolution as “Attachments 1-5" and incorporated by reference, and as amended by the Council amendments listed in Attachment 6 and by the errata listed in Attachment 7, is approved. The Seattle Department of Transportation is requested to compile and publish a final version of the STP that incorporates the amendments shown in Attachment 6 and Attachment 7.
Section 2. As part of the annual budget process, the City Council will determine the level of funding allocated for implementing the Seattle Transportation Plan. Additionally, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will proactively pursue other transportation funding opportunities from regional, state, and federal funding sources and through partnerships to support plan implementation. Achieving the community-shared STP vision will depend on available funding and other resources to deliver priority projects and programs.
Section 3. The Council anticipates that a proposal to renew the transportation levy will be presented to voters for the November 2024 election. The Council anticipates that such a proposal will prioritize:
A. Maintenance, preservation and modernization, including bridge maintenance and repairs, and street maintenance and repairs;
B. Safety and mobility, including a once-in-a-generation investment in new sidewalks and sidewalk alternatives, along with pedestrian crossings, accessible pedestrian signals, and safe routes to schools;
C. Climate action and livability, including electric vehicle charging infrastructure and improvements to the transit rider experience;
D. Vision Zero programs and projects to eliminate deaths and serious injuries caused by vehicle crashes;
E. Improving on-time performance of transit in the Denny Way corridor; and
F. Improving the safety of Lake Washington Boulevard.
Section 4. The STP prioritization framework provides an approach to identify project and program investments that can best advance the STP vision, goals, and key moves.
Section 5. Following a potential levy renewal ballot measure in November 2024, SDOT will develop a three-to-five-year implementation plan and present it to Council for their review and comment by September 2025.
A. SDOT will provide Council with an update and status report on plan implementation on a biennial basis.
B. The implementation plan will identify near-term priorities and be informed by available funding determined by the Council adopted six-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).
C. SDOT will continue to conduct community engagement to keep members of the public apprised of progress toward STP implementation.
D. The implementation plan will be updated at least every four years to enable adjustments to be made based upon available resources, emergent transportation trends and needs, and continued engagement with community.
E. The implementation plan will be developed with input from the Pedestrian Advisory Board, Bicycle Advisory Board, Freight Advisory Board, and Transit Advisory Board.
Section 6. The Council anticipates that the STP Implementation Plan will:
A. Identify the implementation strategy for adding new sidewalks and sidewalk alternatives, and significantly closing the missing sidewalk gap;
B. Identify the City’s role and implementation strategy for improving the transit rider safety experience to ensure that passengers feel safe while accessing and using the transit system;
C. Identify the implementation strategy for keeping bridges in a state of good repair and tracking progress on the Bridge Asset Management Plan;
D. Estimate progress towards STP performance metrics based on likely funding from a renewed 2024 transportation levy and leveraged funding sources, over the lifetime of the levy;
E. Explore programs to deter gun violence and drive by shootings through the use of traffic calming and traffic diversion near public schools and in areas with high levels of vehicle-involved violence; and
F. Explore programs to improve pedestrian lighting in the right-of-way, including development of public safety lighting standards or guidelines, and opportunities to engage adjoining property owners in lighting the public right-of-way.
Section 7. To the extent that implementation of the Seattle Transportation Plan requires development of new transportation policies or revisions to existing policies requiring Council action, the Council requests that SDOT provide a review of how other similarly situated jurisdictions have approached the issue at hand and the relative success of comparable policies implemented elsewhere to assist Council's deliberations.
Section 8. To track progress on the Seattle Transportation Plan implementation, SDOT will prepare and submit to the City Council a biennial progress report covering the prior two years’ achievements. Progress reports will include:
A. Status of performance measures relative to established STP baselines;
B. Analysis of several metrics evaluating performance by demographics and/or geography using the City’s Race and Social Equity Index (RSEI) and/or race so that SDOT can pivot as needed to meet equity goals over the next 20 years; and
C. Status of the delivery of large capital projects that advance the STP.
Section 9. SDOT will conduct a major update to the Seattle Transportation Plan every ten years, or in conjunction with Comprehensive Plan updates and future transportation levy renewal. Minor plan updates may occur periodically following plan adoption and shall be submitted for City Council review and approval.
Section 10. From time to time, the SDOT Director may update the following maps administratively to reflect completion of projects and changes in uses and other conditions:
A. Transit Element: Frequent Transit Network, Transit Street Classification, and Community and Mobility Hubs maps;
B. Bicycle and E-Mobility Element: Bicycle and E-Mobility Network map;
C. Pedestrian Element: Pedestrian Priority Investment Network and Transit Connection Corridor maps; and
D. People Streets and Public Spaces Element: People Streets and Public Spaces map.
Section 11. Having built upon the previously adopted Transit Master Plan (adopted 2012; amended 2016), Bicycle Master Plan (adopted 2014), Freight Master Plan (adopted 2016), and Pedestrian Master Plan (adopted 2017), the Seattle Transportation Plan supersedes these plans and reporting requirements associated with these plans.
Adopted by the City Council the ________ day of _________________________, 2024, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its adoption this ________ day of _________________________, 2024.
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President ____________ of the City Council
The Mayor concurred the ________ day of _________________________, 2024.
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Bruce A. Harrell, Mayor
Filed by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2024.
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Scheereen Dedman, City Clerk
(Seal)
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - The Seattle Transportation Plan - Part I (Final Draft)
Attachment 2 - Seattle Transportation Plan - Part II: Technical Report (Final Draft)
Attachment 3 - Appendix A: STP Large Capital Project Summary Sheets
Attachment 4 - Appendix B: STP Community Organization Reports and Community Engagement Summaries
Attachment 5 - Appendix C: Performance Measures
Attachment 6 - Council Amendments
Attachment 7 - Errata