information from Seattle Department of Transportation

Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) works every day to maintain our roads and improve public safety. This week, SDOT announced several recent examples of the progress it is making to improve road conditions throughout Seattle: 

• Last month’s storms caused substantial road damage throughout Seattle. SDOT has now filled over 7,500 potholes so far in 2022. 
• SDOT has also recently completed the 15th Ave S paving project in Beacon Hill, which is the latest example of the many investments to improve and maintain our streets thanks to the Levy to Move Seattle.
• After the West Seattle Bridge was closed for public safety, SDOT conducted extensive ongoing community engagement to identify 70 traffic and safety improvements throughout West Seattle and Duwamish Valley neighborhoods affected by the bridge closure. SDOT has now completed 53 of these projects since the bridge closed in March 2020, in addition to about 250 smaller improvements.  

SDOT has filled over 7,500 potholes so far in 2022, and continues to repair more every day

Winter weather is tough on roads, causing potholes and other kinds of storm damage. In response to last months’ storms, SDOT tripled the usual pothole response effort to find and repair 7,500 potholes. In comparison, SDOT filled about 15,000 potholes during the entirety of each of the past three years, meaning that in just six weeks Seattle has filled about six months’ worth of potholes. 

New potholes continue to appear every day, so SDOT is asking for the traveling public’s patience as crews continue to repair new road damage. SDOT can’t fix potholes that it doesn’t know about, so the public can help by reporting any potholes they find on the Find It, Fix It app or using any of these tools. 

SDOT has completed many traffic safety, mobility, and access improvements to help address the West Seattle Bridge closure.

The unexpected closure of the West Seattle Bridge in March 2020 led to a shift of traffic patterns impacting West Seattle and Duwamish Valley communities. To address this, SDOT created the Reconnect West Seattle program and conducted extensive community engagement which is still ongoing, to identify a wide variety of projects like traffic safety, mobility, and access improvements to help address detour traffic in the neighborhoods affected by the bridge closure. 

As of the end of 2021, SDOT has completed 53 of the 70 improvements, which the department committed to build as part of the Reconnect West Seattle program. A summary of this work is available on this blog post, and a full list can be found in this report. 

Part of this work includes building Home Zone Program improvements in South Park, Georgetown, and Highland Park. SDOT plans to build a total of 64 Home Zone improvements by the end of 2022, which is in addition to the 53 projects referenced above. So far, 39 of these pedestrian, safety, traffic, and environmental improvements have been completed. 

Additionally, SDOT has completed nearly 250 smaller traffic improvements, which are not counted as a large project. This included fixing trouble spots, making minor road repairs, improving signage and road markings, adjusting traffic signal timing, and more.