The $163 million Spokane Street Viaduct widening project has been completed under-budget, and Mayor McGinn announced today that the city will invest the $11.75 million savings in road safety, freight and road maintenance projects.

On the list of projects to get a boost: Work to complete the Burke-Gilman Trail Missing Link and investments in Bike and Walking Master Plan projects. The biggest chunks will go to major road repairs, freight corridor projects and small repairs like boosting the pothole-filling program.

Details from the mayor’s office:

Mayor Mike McGinn and Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) Director Peter Hahn today announced additional funds to be invested in sidewalks, basic road maintenance, upgrades to the City’s traffic signal system, work to complete the Burke-Gilman “Missing Link” and support for Seattle’s updated Transit Master Plan. These investments, totaling $11.75 million, are possible due to SDOT finishing the Spokane Street Viaduct project under budget. The department achieved the cost savings through a favorable bidding climate and strong oversight of the $163 million project, the largest city transportation project completed in several decades.

“We are working hard to capture these savings and spend them on the things that Seattleites care about,” said McGinn. “That’s why we are using these dollars to support pedestrian safety, invest in basic infrastructure upgrades, road maintenance and planning for the future. I thank our Department of Transportation for their stewardship of taxpayer dollars in their work to bring in Spokane Street under-budget.”

The work that will be funded by these savings include:

·        Major road reconstruction – $3.5 million
·        Freight corridor improvement – $1 million
·        Repair of two city-owned retaining walls – $700,000
·        Additional funds for crack sealing program, a pothole prevention technique – $200,000. This nearly doubles the Mayor’s budget for crack sealing to $450,000.
·        Bike Master Plan implementation- $1 million
·        Sidewalk improvements/Pedestrian Master Plan implementation- $1 million
·        Neighborhood Street Fund – $1 million
·        Adaptive Traffic Signal study and work on recommended projects – $2.5 million
·        Support for Transit Master Plan implementation – $800,000
·        Only in Seattle funding for infrastructure investments in neighborhood business districts – $50,000.

The funding for this work is included in Mayor McGinn’s Supplemental Budget proposal to the City Council for the first quarter of 2013.

“By completing the Spokane Street Viaduct project under budget, we are able to fund needed transportation investments elsewhere in Seattle,” said Hahn. “These resources will help make walking, driving and biking easier and safer for everyone.”