Spokane Street Viaduct savings to be used for transportation investments

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Mayor McGinn spoke at the Spokane Street Viaduct completion ceremony last December. Photo courtesy of SDOT

The City recently completed its largest  transportation project in three decades, the Spokane Street Viaduct, and managed to come in under budget.

These cost savings, achieved through favorable bidding climate and strong oversight of the $163 million project, will now be used to invest in various transportation projects, the city announced today.

Mayor Mike McGinn and Seattle Department of Transportation Director Peter Hahn announced that these funds, totaling$11.75 million, will be invested in sidewalks, basic road maintenance, upgrades to the city’s traffic signal system, work to complete the Burke-Gilman “Missing Link” and support for Seattle’s updated Transit Master Plan.

“We are working hard to capture these savings and spend them on the things that Seattleites care about,” stated McGinn. “That’s why we are using these dollars to support pedestrian safety, invest in basic infrastructure upgrades, road maintenance and planning for the future. I thank our Department of Transportation for their stewardship of taxpayer dollars in their work to bring in Spokane Street under-budget.”

The work that will be funded by these savings include:

- Major road reconstruction - $3.5 million
- Freight corridor improvement - $1 million
- Repair of two city-owned retaining walls - $700,000
- Additional funds for crack sealing program, a pothole prevention technique - $200,000. This nearly doubles the Mayor’s budget for crack sealing to $450,000
- Bike Master Plan implementation- $1 million
- Sidewalk improvements/Pedestrian Master Plan implementation- $1 million
- Neighborhood Street Fund - $1 million
- Adaptive Traffic Signal study and work on recommended projects - $2.5 million
- Support for Transit Master Plan implementation - $800,000
- Only in Seattle funding for infrastructure investments in neighborhood business districts - $50,000

The funding for this work is included in Mayor McGinn’s Supplemental Budget proposal to the City Council for the first quarter of 2013.

“By completing the Spokane Street Viaduct project under budget, we are able to fund needed transportation investments elsewhere in Seattle,” said Hahn. “These resources will help make walking, driving and biking easier and safer for everyone.”