Nineteen pedestrians died on Seattle streets in 2025, up from six in 2016.

A three-bill package aimed at reducing that toll faces a committee vote Thursday, Sept. 17, but the city department responsible for street safety was not consulted until one day before the first discussion.

District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka proposed the Safe Accountable Flexible Equitable Responsive (SAFER) Streets Act in August to codify parts of Seattle's Vision Zero program into law.

The compressed timeline has drawn pointed questions from fellow committee members and raised doubts about whether agencies can meet the legislation's deadlines.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) confirmed to The Urbanist that it was looped in on Saka's package on Aug. 19, one day before the first committee discussion.

SDOT provided written feedback on Sept. 4, but none of the department's input was incorporated by the Sept. 8 committee meeting.

Modifications recommended by the city's law department were made between the two meetings. SDOT has not attended any committee sessions on the bills.

Saka, who chairs the Transportation, Waterfront and Seattle Center Committee, said his office had worked closely with SDOT for more than six weeks and met with the department and the mayor's office multiple times.

The Department of Finance and Administrative Services (FAS), which would implement the package's truck side-guard requirements, was not consulted until early September.

Council central staff analyst Ann Gorman told the committee on Sept. 8 that "FAS does not have mechanical engineering capacity, and FAS may not have capacity to perform and/or oversee the requested body of work by the date that is currently in the ordinance."

The bills are not scheduled to be formally introduced until Tuesday, Sept. 15.

The amendment deadline was set for the week of Sept. 8. Councilmembers were asked to submit changes before seeing a final version.

"I've never seen an amendment deadline for a piece of legislation that has not formally been introduced yet," committee vice chair Alexis Mercedes Rinck said at the Sept. 8 meeting. "How is that possible?"

Council analyst Amanda Allen said staff had been working to fit the pieces together to reach the Sept. 17 vote date.

The three bills would give the SDOT director explicit authority over safety decisions already largely under that office's control, require the Vision Zero Plan to be updated every three years, and request a report by next June on faster post-fatal-crash reviews.

A second bill addresses the City Traffic Engineer position held by Venu Nemani.

The third would require truck side guards on vehicles operated by city contractors, citing Boston's 2014 ordinance.

Mayor Katie Wilson signed an executive order on Aug. 21 covering similar ground, including truck side guards and intersection daylighting. Saka told the committee the efforts are "complementary, but distinct."

Councilmember Eddie Lin raised concerns about SDOT's absence, saying he wanted to ensure the legislation would work for the department.

The deadline matters. If the committee does not vote Thursday, the package would likely be shelved until the council finishes budget work around Thanksgiving.