City Ignores People, Selects Own Worst Roads

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels recently ran a publicity-stunt public poll, allegedly to allow the public to have a say in which city roads are most in need of repair. Last week, he held a press conference to announce that the people's voice has been heard. Twelve road improvement projects were named... one of which was actually identified by a large number of people in the survey.

Of more than 700 people who responded to a city survey last month, 50 named North 45th as one of the worst traffic blots in the city, more than any other location.

So that's where Mayor Greg Nickels held a news conference Wednesday to announce the "dirty dozen" — 12 sore spots on the city's streets, bike trails and sidewalks that he pledged to fix within the next year for about $20 million. The survey was far from scientific — nominations were sought online or by snail mail — and seemed ripe for manipulation by organized neighborhood groups.

Given that, the mayor's dirty dozen didn't correspond exactly with the people's picks.

Other than North 45th, the other 11 projects were among those identified in the survey but were not necessarily the top vote-getters, said Gregg Hirakawa, a spokesman for the city Department of Transportation.

Instead, the projects were those for which money was available or that were on the city's priority list for street repairs already, he said. Wednesday's announcement, with a carefully selected fall timeline for some of the work, had the feel of a campaign stop.

Until I learned that 11 out of the 12 announced projects were in fact chosen without any regard to the survey, I was quite confused at how Mercer Street next to I-5 could have possibly not been in the top 12. Taking a public poll to determine the worst roads was a good plan. On the other hand, ignoring the poll and choosing projects arbitrarily seems like a slap in the face from our public "servants."

Maybe it's just me, though. Oh well. Given how infrequently I actually visit the city proper, it's not as though I have much skin in the game anyway.

(Mary Andom, Seattle P-I, 07.13.2006)