Budget Overruns Put the Brakes on Seattle's Bicycle Master Plan

"The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) only plans to construct about half of the miles of protected bike lanes (PBLs) that it promised when voters approved a $930 million transportation levy in 2015, according to the Bicycle Master Plan implementation schedule released [earlier this month]," reports Ryan Packer.

"According to the plan, the department will completely stop constructing PBLs after 2021, when it has spent all of the Move Seattle Levy funds that were allocated toward them, and almost completely stop building neighborhood greenways after 2022."

The plan released earlier this month is the first time the city has reset its bike lane construction scheduled since 2017—the process resulted in toning down the optimism of the previous bike plans promised to voters.

"Costs for almost all programs are coming in over estimates, as the updated workplan for every other program that was released last November outlined, but the bicycle subprogram also ended up paying for expensive street rebuilds that were required for its centerpiece projects, adding drainage and utility costs to these bike projects," explains Packer.

The article also includes a lot about what projects remain in the plan and the new pressure to prioritize projects given the Bicycle Master Plan's much more limited scope.