Seattle mayor launches transportation strategy

Seattle — Mayor Ed Murray launched Move Seattle, his 10-year vision for transportation in Seattle. The plan integrates Seattle’s many travel modes to better support everyone, whether walking, biking, riding transit, driving a car or delivering freight. With a strong emphasis on safety, maintenance, innovation, and performance measurement, the plan aims to improve travel even as the city continues to grow rapidly.

“Move Seattle will help transform our transportation system over the next ten years,” said Murray. “With new technologies and infrastructure investments, we have the opportunity to reshape the way we get around the Seattle.”

By creating a unified transportation strategy, the Move Seattle plan focuses on investments in critical corridors and projects that serve all modes. The plan outlines arterials throughout the city that will benefit from multi-modal overhauls.

As one example, the Ballard to Downtown project seeks to enhance bus transit service ahead of future Sound Transit light rail service to the neighborhood. It would also invest in intelligent traffic signals to ease the flow of cars and freight, while making bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements to the Ballard Bridge.

“Anything we can do to improve traffic and coordinate our planning is a win for everyone whether we walk, bike or ride transit,” said Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, Chair of the Council’s Transportation committee. “Thanks to Mayor Murray for working to improve the integration of our Transportation system and to create safer streets.”

Responding to rapid population growth and documented demographic shifts, Move Seattle seeks to increase the number of people who bike, walk, ride public transit or share cars by making these choices more attractive. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will provide better pedestrian crossings, more protected bike lanes, and improvements to accommodate streetcars, light rail and buses, while continuing to support truck and car traffic.

Safety is a key theme for Move Seattle. The city recently launched the Vision Zero campaign with the goal of having no traffic fatalities and fewer serious collisions by 2030. To reach this goal, the city will employ street designs that emphasize safety, predictability and the potential for human error, coupled with targeted education and data-driven enforcement.

Smart maintenance is another goal of Move Seattle. The plan calls for seismic retrofit of Seattle’s remaining unreinforced bridges, repaving of city streets to prevent accidents and reduce wear and tear on vehicles, improved pavement markings, replacement of aging signs and additional lighting to enhance visibility.

“By investing in the existing transportation system now, we will help keep it safe and functional longer,” said Scott Kubly, Director of SDOT. “Rather than waiting until infrastructure reaches a critical state, we will prioritize early maintenance efforts that minimize the need for costly future replacements.”

Innovation throughout the transportation system and its components is another important area of emphasis for Move Seattle. SDOT will test new materials and designs, and will adopt innovations that prove to be the most successful for Seattle.

Complete with cost projections, the plan includes a 10-year project list and maintenance and operations priorities to keep Seattle’s transportation system functional and safe, whether for everyday use or during a major event like an earthquake.

The city has also developed strategic goals to ensure success, and has established performance metrics to track the accomplishment of its Move Seattle goals.

More information is available on the city’s website at www.seattle.gov/transportation/moveseattle.htm.