Tagged: Seattle Department of Transportation

Five years ago, Seattle adopted a Bicycle Master Plan. It aims to triple the amount of bicycling in Seattle by the year 2017. But until just a few months ago, there was no way to accurately count cyclists. That’s changing.

The city of Seattle is revamping its rules regarding street trees. The rules clarify what homeowners can and cannot do to trees planted in parking strips and other city right-of-ways.

The ordinance under consideration is the first update of the city’s street tree rules since 1961.

A number of concrete and steel bridges where built in Seattle in the 1930s, '40s and '50s - each designed with a 60-year lifespan.

The Seattle Transportation Department says 60 of the city's 137 bridges are more than 60 years old and would cost $1.1 billion to replace. The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce reports  department Manager John Buswell told the city council's Transportation Committee this week that another Bridging the Gap levy might be needed.

The City council has confirmed a commitment to spend $3 million dollars from the sale of a property along Aurora Avenue north, known as the “Rubble Yard.”

The one-time boost increases the city’s street repair budget by about 33% for the year. Declining tax revenues have taken a bite out of money available for backlogged road repair projects.

The city of Seattle is pouring an extra $3 million into road repair. The city is using money it made selling property along Aurora Avenue North, known as the "Rubble Yard," to the state Department of Transportation. 

A gigantic bridge-shaped piñata spewed more than four hundred pounds of candy last night in south Seattle. It was part of the Cinco de Mayo celebration going on in the city's South Park neighborhood. 

Earlier in the day, officials broke ground on a new $130-million-dollar bridge that's going to re-connect that community to major highways.

Drivers in Seattle may have noticed they’re hitting more potholes this year than usual. City officials say they’re aware of 1,800 holes in the road this winter compared to 570 last winter. Mayor Mike McGinn says Mother Nature has made it tough to fix them:

“The rain, snow, freezing weather has led us to have a dramatically larger number of potholes and an aging infrastructure, frankly, this winter season than in prior years.  We are not currently meeting the 72-hour standard we’ve set for ourselves because of the number of pothole requests.”