SDOT Director Spotts Resigns

SDOT Director Spotts taking a selfie with King County Metro bus base operations staff on March 27, 2023. Photo courtesy of SDOT.

On Tuesday morning, SDOT Director Greg Spotts announced his intent to resign in February from the position he's held for just over two years:

This morning I notified Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell of my intent to resign my position effective 2/12/25.
On a personal level, moving to Seattle alone has been hard, particularly living so far away from my mother in CA and father in NY. In 2025 I will pursue professional opportunities closer to my loved ones.
I depart the Puget Sound with great enthusiasm for Seattle's future and profound gratitude to Mayor Harrell for the opportunity to serve a dynamic, innovative and fast growing city with unlimited potential.
I'm also very thankful for the community members who welcomed me so warmly

Greg Spotts came to Seattle after working for over a decade in transportation capital project leadership in Los Angeles. In his two years as Director of the Seattle Department of Transportation, he vastly sped up capital project delivery as the 2015 Levy to Move Seattle reached its end, making systemic changes in the City's path toward Vision Zero by creating a new Chief Safety Officer role within SDOT and establishing No Right on Red as the default setting for any new or modified traffic signal, and maintained a public-facing focus on project delivery, often visiting project crews on weekends to highlight the fundamental work the department does.

PubliCola notes how more recently, Director Spotts has been playing defense against a new conservative council with significantly different transportation funding priorities than the one who approved his hiring, such as practically killing the Center City Connector (rebranded the Culture Connector by Spotts), the elimination of a community-initiated traffic safety project fund, and removal of a hardened centerline on Delridge preventing illegal left-hand turns.

The position of SDOT director has been a revolving door over the past decade as a series of one-term mayors chose to replace the previous administration's department head with their own. Although his tenure will have been relatively short, his impact on the city and his department will be felt for years. He brought new ideas, reached out to many community organizations, and accelerated many pedestrian, bus and bike infrastructure improvements. His departure coincides with him teeing up SDOT's kickoff of the recently-approved Transportation Levy. His visible focus on walkability, transit accessibility, and overall dedication to his role as Seattle's Director of Transportation will be missed.