Mayor-elect Wilson shakes up SDOT leadership + City needs to get back on pace to keep up with the transportation levy’s demands

Adiam Emery (white jacket over blue top) observes a people-protected bike lane demonstration at 4th and Pine April 30, 2025. Emery directed a quick response to the community action, installing a heavier barrier by the end of the day.

With Mayor-elect Katie Wilson less than two weeks from assuming office, we are already seeing signs of change within SDOT leadership. Interim Director Adiam Emery will not continue in that role, with Wilson tapping Angela Brady of the sprawling Office of the Waterfront, Civic Projects and Sound Transit to take on the Interim Director role.

Essentially every new mayor picks a new SDOT Director. Transportation is a massive part of the city's budget, and SDOT's work inevitably becomes political because the streets are the part of the public realm people interact with most.

Before outgoing Mayor Bruce Harrell picked Emery for the interim role, she was a Deputy Mayor in his administration. So it is not at all surprising that Wilson would make a change. But Brady will be the second interim director in a row, and the department is coming up on a full year without a permanent director following the February 2025 departure of Greg Spotts.

Though 2025 was a huge year for bike project completion, development of new projects has slowed compared to the heightened pace set by Spotts. Emery's SDOT has not applied the brakes on project delivery, but it is no longer accelerating like it was. It is vital that SDOT does not fall behind in developing and delivering projects promised to voters who approved the ambitious 2024 Transportation Levy. Failing to scale up delivery after the Move Seattle Levy passed in 2015 was a disaster for the department, which went through an extended period of rudderless leadership amid the extended Mayor Ed Murray scandal followed by Mayor Jenny Durkan's year-long hesitancy to pick a new SDOT Director. The department does not seem rudderless under Emery like it was in 2017-19, but they have a lot of work to get done before the levy expires in 2032. Under-delivering in the early years will make it nearly impossible to catch up in the later years, and the department is already behind on some of the 2025 projects outlined in their first levy delivery plan. However, to put things in perspective, a year after the Move Seattle Levy passed we wrote, The biggest story for biking in Seattle in 2016 can be summed up in one terrible word: Delayed."

SDOT needs a leader with a focus on efficient project development and delivery, someone who can make sure there is always an ambitious yet achievable number of projects in planning/outreach, technical design and construction. The next director, whether interim or permanent, also needs to be willing to take on big and difficult projects like a safe remake of Rainier Ave between S Jackson Street and MLK Way, one of the projects that was supposed to go into planning in 2025 but is behind schedule.

Brady has been working on the Central Waterfront project since 2012 and was the project manager for the Mercer Corridor Project before that. In 2022 she became the Director of the Waterfront Program, which Mayor Harrell expanded in February of this year to become the somewhat confusing mashup known as the Office of the Waterfront, Civic Projects and Sound Transit. Seattle Bike Blog has been quite critical of both the Mercer and Waterfront projects over the years, though it's hard to say with such massive projects whether Brady is responsible for the many issues on those streets. Most of the problems for both projects stem from there being just too many damn traffic lanes, decisions that came baked into those projects before they were handed to city staff. So I am hopeful that selecting Brady is not a signal that Mayor Wilson wants to see more projects like the eight-lane Mercer Street or nine-lane Alaskan Way.

Wilson has also hired Alex Hudson to serve as a transportation advisor, the Urbanist reported. Hudson is the Executive Director of Commute Seattle and was previously the ED of Transportation Choices Coalition before running for Seattle City Council District 3 in 2023, which she lost to Joy Hollingsworth 53-47.

Wilson's transportation decisions are being guided in part by a transition team (PDF) that includes representatives from Seattle Neighborhood Greenways and Cascade Bicycle Club/Washington Bikes. Lee Lambert is the Executive Director of Washington Bikes, which not only endorsed Bruce Harrell for mayor but also paid to send mailers promoting that endorsement to Seattle voters. Including him in the transition team is a signal that Mayor-elect Wilson does not plan on holding a grudge, which is great. Anna Zivarts, author of When Driving Is Not An Option and friend of Seattle Bike Blog, has been co-leading the transportation-focused group of the transition team.

But beyond agency leader decisions, Wilson also acknowledged the recent hit and run killing of Alley on Beacon Hill and pledged, Making our streets safer, especially for the most vulnerable road users - people walking, biking and rolling - will be a high priority for my administration."

Early Sunday morning, a driver struck and killed a 38-year-old named Allie who was biking across Beacon Ave S. The driver fled the scene. As a lifelong cyclist who's had my share of close calls, my heart goes out to Allie's family and friends.

- Katie Wilson for Seattle (@wilsonforseattle.bsky.social) 2025-12-16T00:11:03.542Z