By Erica C. Barnett
Seattle Department of Transportation director Greg Spotts announced Tuesday morning that he will leave the department, one day after PubliCola contacted him to ask him if Mayor Bruce Harrell had asked him to step down. Spotts’ tenure, at just over two years, was short by SDOT standards; previous permanent directors have generally served for at least one mayoral term, although former mayor Jenny Durkan didn’t hire Spotts’ predecessor, Sam Zimbabwe, until more than a year into her term.
In his letter, sent late Tuesday morning, Spotts said he wanted to spend more time with family and friends in Los Angeles, where he was assistant director and sustainability officer for street services before moving to Seattle in 2022. “Early 2025 seems like a good moment to pass the baton to the next leader of SDOT, an agency which now has the plans and the resources to maintain and modernize Seattle’s streets and bridges,” Spotts wrote.
During just over two years as SDOT director, Spotts managed to rapidly implement projects that stagnated during and after the pandemic under Durkan, including protected bike lanes, bridge maintenance, and spot improvements such as leading pedestrian intervals at crosswalks and “no right on red” signs at intersections where collisions between vehicles and pedestrians are common.
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In the past year, Spotts found himself on the defensive at City Council meetings as transportation committee chair Rob Saka, whose top budget priority this year was removing a traffic safety barrier that prevents illegal left turns into the parking lot of his kids’ former preschool, clashed with him publicly over spending priorities. During deliberations on the transportation levy renewal, which voters passed overwhelmingly in November, Saka (along with Cathy Moore) tried to strip funding from a program that gives community members a direct say in which small projects get funded in their neighborhoods; Saka wanted that money to go to a “district fund” in each council district that would be controlled not by community, but by council members themselves.
The city hasn’t made much progress toward its “Vision Zero” goal of ending traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030, but many of the improvements SDOT implemented under Spotts improved safety for vulnerable road users, and Spotts appeared genuinely committed to making Seattle safer for people who don’t drive.
A spokesman for Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office said Spotts made the decision to leave on his own. In a statement, Harrell praised Spotts’ “collaborative” working style and his “thoughtful leadership toward our shared priorities with a comprehensive focus on safety, completing projects, and investing in the future of Seattle’s transportation system.”
Harrell’s spokesman declined to provide details about how the mayor will choose a new SDOT leader or whether he will appoint an interim from within SDOT (such as senior deputy director Francisca Stefan) after Spotts leaves on February 12.
This is devastating. It also shows just how bad Seattle Councilmember Rob Saka is in his role as Transportation Chair. His transportation experience is limited to driving his kid to school. Greg Spotts made Seattle safer, protected trees, and has moved important bridge maintenance forward. That last one is something that Saka, a resident of West Seattle, so dependent on 3 bridges, ought to respect — but clearly doesn’t.
This is a huge loss for Seattle. Greg Spotts is a visionary and along with his many accomplishments he prioritized the preservation of existing trees. He is personally responsible for saving all the mature trees along Aurora between 80th Ave N and Oak Tree Plaza, as well as the amazing 100 year old autumn maples in South Park. Both of these streets would have been stripped of trees under previous administrations, and they are both in urban heat islands. I have met him personally on many occasions and he is a compassionate, thoughtful and kind. His departure is a poor reflection on our current administration.
It’s a shame, under Spotts things got done.
I agree–he’s the best. I just submitted a comment. Seattle is unlikely to find a visionary like him as a successor.