The Parks District ballot measure Seattle Bike Blog endorsed has passed, giving the city slightly more funding for parks and some extra wiggle room for future property tax levies.

Part of the Parks District plan includes some funding to help increase safe access between neighborhoods and parks. Many neighborhoods have great parks, but they are often surrounded by busy and dangerous streets with missing or inadequate crosswalks and bike route access. If children and people with mobility issues cannot safely get from their front doors to their neighborhood park, that’s a huge shame and makes the parks less of an asset for everyone in the community.

The ballot measure also includes some funding to help put on open streets events. As we reported last week, several Seattle leaders — including City Council Parks Committee Chair and Parks District booster Sally Bagshaw — went down to Portland recently to check out their Sunday Parkways events. Bagshaw did not mince words by saying that Seattle needs to do something like them.

The District also takes needed parks funding out of the city’s levy system, which state law limits. This could make room for a future vote on, say, a bigger transportation levy or something new like universal pre-K. Bridging the Gap expires next year, so conversations will need to begin some time soon on what the next transportation levy should look like. This is our chance to get some real funding for the Bike Master Plan and other needed road safety work.

Ugly campaigning fails

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