The Seattle Department of Transportation has announced that the city is on track to meet 2009 goals for Bridging the Gap.

Department Director Grace Crunican thanked Seattle residents for the voter-approved initiative.

“Residents are seeing the results of their (Bridging the Gap) dollars," she said. "The (transportation department) is steadily improving city streets, bridges, sidewalks and bike facilities, making it easier and safer for everyone to travel around Seattle.”

The city cites the following progress:

- Major asphalt and concrete paving projects are underway on some of the city’s most traveled streets and more than 20 lane-miles of paving will be completed by the end of this year. Work is underway in West Seattle, downtown and south of downtown.

- More than 17,575 square feet of sidewalk have been repaired and the equivalent of five new blocks of sidewalks have been built. Additionally, 42 schools now have improved school zone signage and 32 pedestrian countdown signals have been installed.

The Rainier Valley, Magnolia and the Central District are among areas where pedestrians are already benefiting from these new enhancements.

- Eight Neighborhood Street Fund large projects have been completed and 10 Pedestrian Master Plan projects have been installed in neighborhoods from Madison Park to First Hill to the University District.

- Nearly six lane-miles of bike lanes and sharrows, and seven miles of bike route signs are finished, allowing residents of Magnolia, View Ridge and Delridge to enjoy new bike facilities.

- Crews have already replaced nearly 3,000 regulatory traffic signs and 1,000 street name signs this year. They have also remarked more than 300 crosswalks and restriped more than 500 lane-miles of arterial streets citywide.

- Approximately 680 street trees have been planted so far this year, more than 800 street trees pruned, and a half-acre of landscaped areas restored to good condition across Seattle.

Large projects supported by the Bridging the Gap transportation initiative have also moved forward with designs completed for the Mercer Street Corridor, the Fourth Avenue off-ramp of the Spokane Street Viaduct in construction, and an advertisement for bids made on widening the Spokane Street Viaduct.

According to the Seattle Department of Transportation, it has paved more than 68 lane-miles of road, secured 20,000 new hours of transit service, constructed 28 blocks of new sidewalk, repaired 38 blocks of sidewalk, remarked 1,871 crosswalks, replaced 17,135 regulatory signs, installed school zone signage at 102 schools, replaced street name signs at 2,119 intersections, striped 57 miles of bike lanes and sharrows and planted 1,604 new street trees.