Seattle Transportation Levy Proposal

For the last 18 years, voter-approved levies have provided important funding, enabling us to create a safer and more connected transportation system that keeps Seattle moving.   

The current $930 million Levy to Move Seattle will expire in 2024. The levy provides roughly 30% of SDOT’s annual budget and funds transportation projects and programs that people rely on daily.   

To determine what a levy renewal should fund and how much it would cost, we asked Seattleites about their transportation priorities, assessed the maintenance and repair needs of our streets, sidewalks, and bridges, and identified the projects required to accommodate the growing demand on our transportation system.

Here is some of what we heard from people across Seattle:

“We need fast, safe, affordable transit that doesn’t require walking more than a few blocks to a hub.”

“Maintenance is the unglamorous but incredibly important job that makes our city tick.”

“Pay attention to the majority who want safer, more equitable, more climate-resilient ways to move around Seattle.”

“Accommodate freight and commercial traffic, especially north of the ship canal. Have sufficient alternate traffic corridors in case of an emergency, i.e., earthquake and/or tsunami.”

“[Transportation] should be affordable to everyone, in that everyone should be able to use transit, walk, or bike cheaply.”

SDOT is responsible for managing transportation assets worth $40 billion. These include, but aren’t limited to:

Streets and bridges: 3,900 lane miles of streets, 134 bridges, 191,000 signs, and 1,100 traffic signals

Public spaces: 7 million square feet of landscaped area and 41,000 street trees

Sidewalks: 2,300 miles of sidewalk and 32,000+ curb ramps

Other resources: 600 retaining and sea-walls, 1,580+ pay stations, and 502 stairways

Seattle has funded transportation needs with the help of voter-approved levies for the past 18 years, starting in 2006 with the $365 million Bridging the Gap levy. In 2015, voters renewed their levy support by approving the $930 million Levy to Move Seattle.

Here’s some of what the past two levies have funded:

• 345 blocks of new sidewalks
• 261 Safe Routes to School projects
• 3,019 curb ramp upgrades
• 509 lane miles of new paving
• 23 seismic bridge retrofits
• 57 miles of neighborhood greenways
• 197 miles of bike lanes
• 332 transit spot improvement projects
• 9,335 trees planted

Levies are paid for by Seattle property owners. Under the expiring Levy to Move Seattle, for a median home with a tax-assessed value of $866,000, the cost to taxpayers is about $24 per month. This levy proposal would increase the monthly cost by $17 per month.