The Seattle Planning Commission has sent a document urging the city to re-evaluate the city's streets. In the document, the Seattle Planning Commission outlines a set of recommendations aimed at reclaiming public right-of-way for people, mitigating the impact of climate change, and improving safety on the city's streets.
The Seattle Planning Commission notes in their brief that road fatalities and injuries are on the rise despite Seattle's Vision Zero pledge.
The document goes on to note that the city will not be able to accommodate the growth anticipated in the coming decades if streets continue to be used in the same way they are now.
The Seattle Planning Commission calls on the city to include their recommendations in the update of the Seattle Comprehensive Plan, which will undergo a major update in 2024.
“Among the Planning Commission’s recommendations is the removal of vehicle storage from the current Comprehensive Plans’s list of needs that should be accommodated on city streets,” states the document, calling instead for “a citywide parking policy and plan that looks to balance revenue needs with opportunities for multi-function streets that provide more options, public space, and environmental benefits.”
The Seattle Planning Commission also highlighted the discrepancy between the proposed comprehensive plan update and the Seattle Department of Transportation’s Transportation Plan, which, according to a letter sent to SDOT earlier this year, “appear[s] to assume a future high rate of trip-making by privately owned vehicles, with the only variable being whether those vehicles are electric.” The focus on electrification, the commission pointed out, “will miss an opportunity to evaluate alternatives that the City has far more influence over, and that align with the forthcoming update to the Comprehensive Plan.”
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Source: Seattle Planning Commission
