The City of Seattle has fulfilled its Levy to Move Seattle commitment by completing Safe Routes to School improvements at every public school in the city. This milestone, set in the 2015 Move Seattle Levy, represents a significant step in enhancing safety for students walking, biking, and rolling to school. However, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is dedicated to further expanding street and sidewalk safety upgrades across the city.
Since the levy’s approval, SDOT has implemented over 260 projects aimed at student safety citywide, including sidewalk repairs, marked crosswalks, speed cushions, and other traffic-calming measures.
“Safe streets are essential for public safety, and I am proud of Seattle’s award-winning Safe Routes to School program for reaching this milestone,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell. “These investments make a real difference in both protecting students on their way to class and as part of our larger commitment to help young people learn, grow, and achieve their potential.”
The latest improvements were completed this week at Olympic View Elementary in the Maple Leaf neighborhood, where new all-way stop signs, marked crosswalks, and speed humps were installed to improve pedestrian safety near the school.
Additional safety upgrades completed this year include projects near Adams Elementary, Kimball Elementary, South Shore PK-8, Viewlands Elementary, Greenwood Elementary, McGilvra Elementary, James Baldwin Elementary, Hazel Wolf K-8, John Stanford Elementary, Sand Point Elementary, and Gatewood Elementary, among others.
“Eight years ago, the Levy to Move Seattle set an ambitious goal of building safe routes for students to every public school in our city. I’m thrilled to have reached the milestone of not only meeting this goal but exceeding it,” said Greg Spotts, SDOT Director.
The recent 2023-2024 Safe Routes to School Annual Report highlights the program’s achievements and community impact, noting that 28% of students now walk, bike, or roll to school. Other key results include a 21% reduction in speeds on streets where speed cushions were installed, and distribution of over 137 walking and biking kits with items like lights, patrol flags, and helmets to 48 schools.
In addition to infrastructure upgrades, SDOT supports schools and families through community-focused initiatives, providing grants of up to $1,000 to schools, PTAs, and community groups for walking and biking programs. These initiatives foster stronger community connections and encourage safe, timely transportation to school.
Through the School Streets Program, SDOT has also created safer spaces around 16 schools by temporarily restricting nearby streets to through traffic during school hours. SDOT aims to make several of these streets permanently car-free with enhancements like signage, barricades, and student artwork, with Emerson, Whittier, and Genesee Hill Elementary among the schools benefiting from these upgrades.
SDOT’s efforts also extend to transportation safety education. In partnership with Seattle Public Schools, Cascade Bicycle Club, and the Outdoors for All Foundation, SDOT delivers the Let’s Go Safety Education Program, which teaches 3rd to 5th graders how to walk and bike safely. The program, which now reaches middle schools, taught safe biking to over 14,000 students last year, helping more than 1,100 students learn to ride. Since expanding statewide, it has become the largest safety education program of its kind in the United States.
