November's torrential rains - capped by a week of frigid air, snow and ice - raise an obvious question about all that money for Seattle streets that voters approved on Nov. 7.
When are they going to fix the potholes?
A lot of money ready
Emergency repairs such as potholes have been a renewed focus of the city in the last five years - one of the few truly beneficial things the Greg Nickels administration has done for neighborhoods. But it's been in the context of declining city revenues dedicated to transportation so that paving and other longer-term projects have gone begging.
Court decisions, initiatives and the state's funding formula reduced dedicated revenues from $37.5 million in 1995 to $13.1 million in 2006. With new taxes and passage of the levy, money for potholes and maintaining roads will go up dramatically - eventually.
About $37 million is scheduled to come on-line in 2007 from the nine-year, $365 million package Seattle voters approved last month. But the property-tax levy, which takes effect in January, is only the largest component of a three-part transportation package expected to raise $545 million by 2015.
Seattle City Council had already approved a new commercial-parking tax, which will raise $128 million in that period, and a new business transportation tax, raising $52 million. The latter two revenue sources will take effect in July 2007.
In 2008, the first full year of the package, about $21 million will go directly to street paving and repair alone - as opposed to the $13 million the city received for all dedicated transportation revenues in 2006.
A long wait for projects
This winter, however, the asphalt and transit improvements all that new money will buy are still on the drawing board.
Thanks to the budget cuts in recent years, Seattle's Department of Transportation (SDOT) has a huge backlog of orders and projects. Now, SDOT staff is scrambling to transform the department's wish list into actual plans and schedules; SDOT is set to present a work plan for this year's new revenues to Seattle City Council by the end of January 2007.
Krista Bunch, legislative aide to Jan Drago, chairperson of the coun-cil's Transportation Committee, notes that the department is rushing not only because of the need, but because of the relatively short window of the levy.
"Nine years is a pretty short time for a construction project," Bunch said.
SDOT hopes to reduce its backlog by half over the nine years of the plan.
Eventually, the city hopes to extend what it is now calling Phase I into a longer plan: a 20-year, $1.6 billion transportation blueprint. Over that time, about two-thirds of the money, or $1.1 billion, will come from residential property-tax levies, if approved by voters. Only the first nine years is certain.
In that nine-year window, SDOT expects that about two-thirds of the revenue will be spent directly on maintenance and repair of roads, bridges and sidewalks.
Another quarter will go to "improvements for bikes, pedestrians and safety and enhanced transit services."
The final 10 percent is allocated for specific projects: the Spokane Street viaduct, a Lander Street overpass, the "Mercer mess," King Street Station improvements and so on.
But which projects?
The sole, niggling question in all this - beyond the frustration that nobody in government can wave a wand and get some of these backlogged projects finished now - is where in the city the money will be spent.
Bunch says there are no specific plans for formal public comment on SDOT's January work plan, though "the public is always welcome to comment."
And to be sure, with the enormous backlog of projects, there are streets in every part of the city that have been the pet peeves of locals for years.
Long term, despite increased usage, the new taxes and the levy passed by voters last month should usher in an era of smoother streets for the city (as well as more and improved paths for bicyclists).
But this winter, it won't help. And between now and when all the new projects begin to be completed, expect a few more bumps in the road.
Nationally syndicated columnist, radio host and Eat the State! co-founder Geov Parrish may be reached via needitor@nwlink.com.
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