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City of Seattle
Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor
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NEWS ADVISORY
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| SUBJECT: $500,000 Reinstated For Small Projects Citywide
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
1/29/2002 12:16:00 PM |
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Office of the Mayor (206) 684-4000
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$500,000 Reinstated For Small Projects Citywide
Mayor Nickels "keeping faith with the public"
SEATTLE - Today Mayor Greg Nickels announced the re-instatement of the Neighborhood Street Fund for 2002. One of the first projects to be completed under the restored program will be the traffic circle at 5th Avenue South and South Henderson Street.
"Significant transportation improvements don't always come in big packages. Many improvements come at the request of communities through their neighborhood councils. When citizens create a partnership with the city - that's the last sort of thing we should cut," said Nickels. "So as of today, I'm restoring funding for the 28 neighborhood street fund projects. It's a small amount of money in terms overall city finances - about $500,00 - but big in terms of keeping faith with the public. Call it my faith based initiative!"
The Neighborhood Street Fund gives neighborhoods the opportunity to tell the City what is important to them. The process of identifying projects and developing the priorities is done by communities, and is difficult, time-consuming work for community volunteers.
The South Park traffic circle project brought together the entire South Park community, including the South Park Redevelopment Committee, the South Park Neighborhood Association, and the Greater Duwamish District Council. Traffic circles slow traffic and can reduce traffic crashes by 90%, so the many residents in the area will benefit, as will the people who drive or walk to South Park Marra Farm or Concord Elementary School.
Other 2002 improvements to be funded by the reinstated Neighborhood Street Fund include traffic calming devices and pedestrian improvements in Ballard, the Central District, Delridge, Duwamish, Lake Union, Queen Anne/Magnolia, Northeast, Northwest, and Southeast and Downtown Seattle.
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Mayor's Office
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