Seattle: 121,800 Trip Hazards Repaired for SDOT Since 2013
Program summary
The Seattle Department of Transportation has run a sidewalk beveling contract with Precision Concrete Cutting (PCC) since 2013. More than 121,800 trip hazards have been repaired across 119 miles of sidewalk, every one GPS-mapped before the cut and photographed before and after it, with no gap in service across 13 years.
Client: Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT)
Scope: Sidewalk beveling contract: survey, trip hazard removal by horizontal cutting, GIS data delivery
Years: 2013 to present, 13+ years, no service gaps; current contract runs through May 2027
Hazards repaired: 121,800+
Sidewalk surveyed and repaired: 119 miles, about 6% of Seattle's 2,100+ miles of sidewalk
Survey grids completed: 21
City work orders issued: 3,832+
Detection threshold: 1/4 inch and up
The challenge
Seattle has more than 2,100 miles of sidewalk. Street trees, wet winters and age push panels out of line across every neighborhood, and a raised joint of 1/4 inch is enough to trip a pedestrian and to count as a change in level under the ADA. Replacing panels one by one is slow, closes the walkway for the cure period and sends the old concrete to landfill. SDOT needed a way to work through the backlog at scale, keep the record straight for its accessibility obligations and keep the sidewalks open while the work happened.
What PCC did
SDOT chose to prioritize beveling over replacement, and PCC runs the full pipeline from survey to repair under one contract.
Survey by grid. The city is worked in survey grids. Each hazard is measured, photographed, classified and GPS-located before crews mobilize. Twenty-one grids have been completed across Seattle neighborhoods and downtown high-traffic areas.
Cut, not replaced. Each hazard at 1/4 inch and up is cut horizontally to a 1:12 slope, the same slope standard the ADA sets for ramps. One hazard takes 15 to 20 minutes. No demolition, no forms, no cure time, no full sidewalk closure.
Work orders against the contract. SDOT has issued more than 3,832 work orders against the contract. Each one is authorized against unit prices already on contract, so there is no design cycle before crews are on site.
Record on every repair. Before and after photo verification and inspection notes on every hazard. Deliverables on every project are GIS shapefiles, ArcGIS layers and Excel exports.
Planning from the data. Grid planning and budgeting use the previous years' completed work to set the priority of future grids, so each year's program is built on the last.
Results
121,800+ trip hazards repaired.
119 miles of sidewalk surveyed and repaired, about 6% of the network.
13+ years of continuous service, 2013 to present, with the contract re-awarded under competitive procurement and currently running through May 2027.
An Interlocal Agreement that lets neighboring jurisdictions piggyback on Seattle's contract.
A GIS record of every hazard found and every repair made, in the city's own formats.
What it means for other cities
Seattle shows what a sidewalk program looks like after more than a decade: the city sets the threshold, the contractor surveys and repairs by grid, one year's data sets the next year's priorities, and work orders flow against a standing contract. Three details matter most to a public works director:
The survey and the repair are one contract, so the city's inventory and the field condition never diverge.
The record is defensible. Every repair carries a date, a location, measurements and photos, so when a claim arrives the city can show when the hazard was found and fixed.
Neighbors can use it. The Interlocal Agreement means a smaller jurisdiction next to Seattle does not need its own procurement.
See how a municipal program works year to year, or compare with San Francisco, PCC's largest single-city program.
Frequently asked questions
Who repairs sidewalk trip hazards for the City of Seattle?
Precision Concrete Cutting has held SDOT's sidewalk beveling contract since 2013. More than 121,800 trip hazards have been repaired across 119 miles of sidewalk, with no service gap in 13 years. The current contract runs through May 2027.
How much of Seattle's sidewalk network has been surveyed and repaired?
About 119 miles, roughly 6% of the city's 2,100-plus miles, across 21 completed survey grids in neighborhoods and downtown high-traffic areas.
What hazard size does Seattle repair?
The detection threshold is 1/4 inch and up. Every hazard is GPS-mapped before work begins and photographed before and after the cut.
Can a neighboring city use Seattle's contract?
Yes. An Interlocal Agreement lets neighboring jurisdictions piggyback on Seattle's contract with PCC.
Start a program in your city
Request a free assessment, call 1-877-224-0025 or email inquiries@safesidewalks.com.