Hi, It has been disappointing watching the progress of various expensive city projects in Seattle that don't address the needs of the people who live here. The latest example of this is the Seattle Police Dept North Precinct station, with a $149mil price tag. That is a massively expensive building. Meanwhile, getting Seattle to fund basic street safety improvements with costs that are a tiny fraction of that building is a constant struggle. I've obtained numerous Neighborhood Park & Street Fund Grants to do things like install curb ramps ($15k each), create safer crossings (Rectangular Rapid Flash Beacons - $70k each), and paint protected sidewalks/bike lanes/curb bulbs (cost estimates vary on that, but well under $1mil). Some of my fellow safe streets advocates refer to this as "having a bake sale for street safety." These things cost relatively little, yet can have a large impact for people using our public right-of-way. Meanwhile, the Bicycle Master Plan is being scaled back, in part due to lack of funds: http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2016/05/18/we-cant-wait-part-i-people-pack-city-hall-to-end-seattles-bike-plan-delays/, https://twitter.com/seabikeblog/status/732701294238912512 General street safety retrofits are severely hindered by lack of money and SDOT staff: https://www.theurbanist.org/2016/04/20/banner-way-improvements-should-go-further/ Projects that are repaving arterial roadways without sidewalks aren't adding those (much needed) sidewalks due to lack of money: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/pave_greenwood.htm Just getting streets fixed requires enormous amounts of efforts by activists and neighborhood groups: http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2016/06/16/neighbors-march-for-a-safer-ne-65th-street/ http://lunge.queued.net/~dilinger/2016%20NPSF%20presentation.pdf https://twitter.com/NEGreenways/status/713777325863624704 The Ballard Bridge remains a death-trap for people walking & biking, with no funding to fix it: http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2015/05/27/heres-how-to-make-the-ballard-bridge-safer-now-without-spending-a-fortune/ It is so incredibly frustrating to have to fight so hard for scraps of funding for urgent safe street *needs*, and yet Seattle has no problems spending $149mil (originally $160mil) on a building. I understand that it includes a community center, but we managed to build one of those recently in Rainier Beach for a mere $25mil: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/at-last-a-sparkly-new-community-center-for-rainier-beach/ I implore Council to put a cost cap on this project at something reasonable (let's say $50mil), and use the rest of any earmarked funds towards more urgent needs. For example, $50mil for Safe Routes To School (including District 5 sidewalks) and $50mil towards low-income or homeless housing could make a huge difference in a lot of people's lives. Thanks, Andres Salomon