Woodland Park Ave N · Seattle

Why is this street like this?

In 2023 neighbors won a $50,000 city grant to calm traffic on one block of Woodland Park Ave N — between N 42nd and N 43rd St. By early 2026 the changes were in, and the city had spent $119,330. This page is the history — the timeline and the costs, from 460 public records.

The receipt

CITY OF SEATTLE

WOODLAND PARK AVE N · ONE BLOCK

“TRAFFIC CALMING” · PROJECT P23043

Your street received

SPEED HUMP×2
PAINTED CURB BULB W/ FLEX POSTS×5
PAINTED STREET NARROWING×5
“NO PARKING” SIGN×40
PARKING SPACES42 → 23

Charges — city's own cost sheet

CITY STAFF WAGES80,200.13
CITY STAFF OVERTIME9,482.64
PAYROLL TAXES & BENEFITS6,559.93
TRUCKS & VEHICLES1,868.21
FLEXIBLE POSTS (VENDOR)15,545.90
PAVEMENT MARKING & SUPPLIES3,181.81
SIGN WORK ORDER2,491.25
TOTAL CHARGED119,329.87
NEIGHBORS' GRANT (2023)50,000.00
CITY'S OWN STATED BUDGET60,000.00
DIFFERENCE59,329.87
APPROVED BY:
No record on file

THANK YOU FOR DRIVING SLOWLY

Receipt reconstructed from the city's records — not a city document.

The history

  • 2023

    Neighbors ask the city to slow traffic on their block, and win a $50,000 grant to do it.

  • 2023

    The city's own count of the mail it received that fall: 21 in support, 16 against.

  • 2024

    The city's transportation department designs the project — and reworks the plan midway to fit the $50k budget.

  • 2025

    The first speed humps go in at the end of the year.

  • 2026

    A construction notice tells residents the project has “94% support” and that no legal parking is being removed. Crews finish the rest — curb bulbs, narrowings, no-parking signs.

  • 2026

    The city's cost sheet through March: $119,330 — double its own stated budget.

  • 2026

    A neighbor uses Washington's public records law to request the city's entire file — every email, memo, and spreadsheet. This page is what those 460 documents show.

What the records don't yet explain

  • Where “94% support” came from. It isn't in the grant application, any review, or any survey the city produced.
  • Who approved spending beyond the stated budget. No sign-off appears in the 460 documents produced so far.
  • The city's own list of what it held back. Records offices normally send one. None came.

More records are due from the city this fall — this page will update.

What can you do?

Get one email when the new records arrive

Nothing else, ever — and the list is deleted once the city finishes producing records. Tip: use a relay address like Apple's Hide My Email.

Ask your councilmember

From the neighbor who made this site: I believe this project wasted money in a city already tight on finances. I built this page to call attention to that waste — and, hopefully, to change how projects like this are overseen. If you want to speak up too, this button emails the councilmember for this district.

Email Councilmember Rivera

Prefilled — edit it before sending.