Side streets along Aurora Avenue North are already being barricaded.

The Seattle City Council's Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, June 23, passed emergency legislation giving SDOT the permanent legal authority to keep them closed for public safety reasons.

The bill, CB 121233, now heads to the full council for a vote expected the week of June 30. Because it carries an emergency designation, it needs a three-quarters supermajority (at least seven of nine council members) and would take effect immediately upon passage.

The legislation expands existing city code that already allows officials to close alleys in high-crime areas to now include full streets. It requires SDOT to consult with the Chief of Police before any closure. The ordinance does not outline a process for reopening streets once closed.

District 5 Councilmember Debora Juarez championed the bill. District 7 Councilmember Bob Kettle, who chairs the Public Safety Committee and represents Queen Anne, Magnolia, Belltown, and Pioneer Square, presided over the Tuesday meeting, which ran from 9:36 a.m. to 11:34 a.m.

Kettle warned that closures alone won't fix the corridor's problems.

"We have to have a sustained effort," Kettle said. "My concern is for every action, there's a reaction. We need to take this flex and then really attack it ... because if we do just a bit and our attention wanders, we could have this conversation three months from now and we're talking about the same thing."

The committee also passed CB 121232, a companion bill expanding the duties of the city's Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) Department crisis responder team.

The legislation comes after months of gun violence and sex trafficking along Aurora. A 15-year-old boy was shot near 95th Street and Aurora Avenue North at about 10:45 p.m. Monday, June 22, the night before the committee vote.

Kettle credited the city's Real Time Crime Center cameras with helping investigators quickly determine what happened.

Frustrated residents had built their own makeshift barricades on Aurora side streets after a spate of shootings in May 2026. SDOT removed those homemade barriers.

Mayor Katie Wilson announced the street-closure plan on Friday, June 12, calling the situation on Aurora "unacceptable" for residents and workers. She directed SDOT to close streets at North 102nd, North 100th, North 98th, and North 96th. SDOT confirmed Wednesday, June 24, that those closures were being installed that week, joining existing barriers at North 101st and North 107th.

All closures will remain through the summer.

According to SPD data cited at the committee meeting, north precinct shooting reports from January through May 2026 are at their lowest levels since 2021: 48 total reports of shootings or shots fired, including one fatal and seven nonfatal injuries.

That compares to 63 reports over the same period in 2025 and 64 in 2024.

The full council vote on CB 121233 has not yet been posted to the official council calendar.