As part of our mission to bring focus, support, and momentum behind the Lid I-5 project, we regularly connect with candidates running for elected office in the Seattle area. Our goal is twofold: Educate candidates about the project and its public support, and to listen as we seek out a diversity of perspectives and advice on how we move forward together with such a transformative vision for our city.
In 2026 we contacted candidates in 21 primary election contests and provided them equal opportunities to respond:
- U.S. Congress, Washington districts 7 and 9
- Washington State Senate and House of Representatives, districts 34, 36, 37, 43, and 46
- King County Council, districts 2, 4, and 8
- Seattle City Council, district 5
Of the 46 candidates, we received completed questionnaires from 10. Other candidates are welcome to contact us for a second opportunity to provide their views. We post candidate statements without making edits or commenting on factual accuracy.
Lid I-5 has 501(c)(3) non-profit status through our fiscal sponsor, the Seattle Parks Foundation. We do not endorse any political candidates. We may exercise the right to endorse voter initiatives.
Washington State Senate, District 36
1 of 2 candidates responded for this contest
Jillian England
In office, what local, state, or other non-federal funding sources would you utilize to help the project design/engineering move ahead more quickly?
Prioritize using the existing federal grant first to avoid burdening Seattle taxpayers. If delayed, bridge with interim funding from current city/WSDOT/regional budgets, philanthropy, and public-private partnerships — without new taxes or levies until there is a clear project scope, realistic cost estimates, and staged milestones.
Advance only if independent data shows the lid delivers sufficient transportation, economic, public space, and neighborhood benefits to justify the high costs. Focus on transparency and evidence-based decisions.
We need to be accountable and make actual progress towards completing construction.
What uses on I-5 lids would reflect your values or vision? Housing, parks, markets, community centers, trails, something else?
I would emphasize affordable and mixed housing, parks and green public spaces, trails and walking-bicycle connections. Markets and limited commercial retail. Community centeres.
I would very cautiously approach heavy industrial uses and overly optimistic designs that ballon costs or diviert from the primary goals of the lid concept.
What outcomes would you like to see from the upcoming community engagement and technical work led by Seattle OPCD?
- Clear, Data-Driven Project Definition
- Inclusive yet Pragmatic Community Vision
- Balanced Land-Use Recommendations
- Transparent Funding & Governance Path
- Public Trust and Management momentum
Generally every aspect should have clear unambiguous goals, milestones, and pass / fail criteria.
Washington State Senate, District 43
1 of 3 candidates responded for this contest
Jamie Pedersen (incumbent)
In office, what local, state, or other non-federal funding sources would you utilize to help the project design/engineering move ahead more quickly?
I support exploring opportunities within the state transportation and capital budgets to advance the design and engineering work needed to move an I-5 lid project forward. I was proud to help secure $200,000 in the 2023-2025 state transportation budget for an updated feasibility study. In future sessions, I will continue supporting efforts to evaluate an I-5 lid in coordination with seismic upgrades and major rehabilitation work along the Seattle section. As the ongoing work on the Ship Canal Bridge demonstrates, Washington must continue investing in the modernization and resilience of our core infrastructure.
While the state can play an important role in advancing the project, I also believe that it is possible for the lid to pay for itself. Developers interested in building would need to buy the air rights from WSDOT. This money could go straight into lid construction. I also support other options like tax increment financing or even tax incentives to provide the necessary resources for this project to succeed. An I-5 lid presents a tremendous opportunity to reconnect neighborhoods, create housing and public space, and strengthen the economic and environmental future of our city. I have strongly supported this vision for years and look forward to continuing my advocacy at the state level.
What uses on I-5 lids would reflect your values or vision? Housing, parks, markets, community centers, trails, something else?
I would like an I-5 lid project include both housing and public green space. One of my top priorities on this campaign is increasing the supply of all types of housing, especially social housing, public housing, and transitional housing for those exiting homelessness. By creating new developable space in the heart of Seattle, an I-5 lid presents a unique opportunity to add much-needed housing capacity while helping ease affordability pressures across the city. At the same time, incorporating community amenities like parks and open space would ensure broad public benefit and neighborhood reconnection. These two uses would make the I-5 lid a true force multiplier for Seattle’s future.
What outcomes would you like to see from the upcoming community engagement and technical work led by Seattle OPCD?
I would like to see a broad group of diverse stakeholders that are united towards making this project a reality. Seattle OPCD should engage residents, small businesses, neighborhoods, community groups, and more to get their feedback on how to minimize impacts and make this project beneficial for all. This engagement should then feed into the technical work of identifying potential timelines, funding mechanisms, and strategies necessary to ensure this project’s success.
I remember visiting Freeway Park in 1976. I worked alongside Jim Ellis, the man who made the original lid possible. If the original I-5 broke our city apart, this project represents an incredible opportunity for us to unify. By reconnecting neighborhoods, creating affordable housing, expanding green space, and ensuring that the benefits of an I-5 lid reach all Seattleites, we can build a more connected future for our city.
Washington State House, District 43, Representative #1
1 of 2 candidates responded for this contest
Nicole Macri (incumbent)
In office, what local, state, or other non-federal funding sources would you utilize to help the project design/engineering move ahead more quickly?
I have been a very active supporter of Lid I-5 in the legislature. Reconnecting communities divided by the freeway is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create public benefits that Seattle urgently needs. I have secured State planning dollars in the Transportation Budget in past years. I will continue pushing for State funding so work can continue without losing momentum.
This project will require a braided funding strategy. I would pursue state transportation and capital budget investments, seek integration with future I-5 preservation and modernization work, and identify opportunities through housing, parks, and climate infrastructure programs. I would also support partnerships with local funding tools, philanthropy, and value-capture approaches tied to future development opportunities.
Projects of this scale are built through persistence and partnership. I see my role primarily as helping ensure the State remains an active partner and moving the project steadily from vision to implementation.
What uses on I-5 lids would reflect your values or vision? Housing, parks, markets, community centers, trails, something else?
My vision is not simply to cover a freeway — it is to create places that reconnect people and expand opportunity.
My priority is ensuring lidded areas have a thoughtful mix of public open space, affordable housing, community-serving spaces, pedestrian and bicycle connections, and opportunities for local small businesses and cultural activity. I am particularly interested in ensuring new public land advances equity goals and creates benefits for people who have historically been excluded from high-opportunity neighborhoods.
Seattle needs more housing and more public space, not one at the expense of the other. I envision places where families can gather, children can play, neighbors can connect, and residents of different incomes and backgrounds can live close to jobs, transit, schools, and services. This project should help heal a historic divide while creating a more connected, healthy, and inclusive city.
What outcomes would you like to see from the upcoming community engagement and technical work led by Seattle OPCD?
The next phase should provide both inspiration and clarity.
On the community side, I want engagement that reaches beyond people who traditionally participate in planning processes and meaningfully includes renters, affordable housing residents, small businesses, communities of color, disability advocates, and young people. Community engagement should shape the project rather than simply react to it.
On the technical side, I want greater confidence around phasing strategies, engineering feasibility, funding pathways, implementation timelines, and how the project can align with future I-5 investments and improvements.
Most importantly, I want this work to produce a shared vision with broad public support and a realistic roadmap for getting there. Transformational projects take time, but they only move forward when communities can see both the promise and a path to achieving it.
Washington State House, District 46, Representative #1
3 of 3 candidates responded for this contest
Gerry Pollet (incumbent)
In office, what local, state, or other non-federal funding sources would you utilize to help the project design/engineering move ahead more quickly?
I’ve been a co-sponsor of requests for funding Lid I-5 in the state transportation and capital budgets, and will continue to do so. I will continue to also offer to be the lead sponsor for a funding request for design of lidding I-5 from NE 45th to 50th. The wide state owned right of way, utilities and lower elevation for lidding, all make this an attractive pilot.
I will advocate that we utilize Climate Commitment Act funding in addition to other state capital and transportation fund sources because lidding creates new, safe pedestrian, bike and transit routes from residential neighborhoods on Capital Hill to downtown (and from areas west of I-5 to UW).
I spent ten years as the leading advocate putting together the funding and bringing together the State, Sound Transit and Seattle to plan and build the pedestrian and bike bridge over I-5 from the Northgate light rail station to North Seattle College. I sponsored the state funds which led to Seattle embracing it. It is now an incredible success in providing access to the college, to the Opportunity Center at the College (for Employment Security, Work First, food assistance) and for neighborhoods west of I-5 to be able to bike or walk to light rail.
I envision that we can provide greatly improved safe bicycle access to UW from neighborhoods west of I-5 (Wallingford, Fremont, Phinney) by lidding I-5 from 45th to 50th or, at minimum, adding a new street level pedestrian and bike bridge.
What uses on I-5 lids would reflect your values or vision? Housing, parks, markets, community centers, trails, something else?
Seattle needs new affordable housing units! Lidding I-5 creates new public land. This will be invaluable to provide for affordable housing units to be built (it would also allow for Seattle’s Social Housing to have new land for inclusionary housing). There is a need for a community center serving the area. I am the sponsor of the state funding for the first in Seattle housing to be built over a new community center in Lake City. This model would allow for both housing and a community center (with early learning / child care and other supports for a healthy residential community).
In planning for healthy communities, we need to provide open and green space. Lidding I-5 offers the opportunity to meet standards for green and recreational space in residential communities.
With 10,000 new residents planned for the University District a portion of a lid from NE 45th to NE 50th is likely the only available place to meet needs for a Pre-K through 6th grade public school to serve the area. There are no elementary schools in the U District and the closest ones have been over capacity. This should be part of the feasibility study.
What outcomes would you like to see from the upcoming community engagement and technical work led by Seattle OPCD?
Identify: a) feasibilities for a range of structures that combine meeting community identified needs for a city community center with affordable housing; b) proportions of open and recreational space based on community engagement (including needs for spaces serving children (i.e., play grounds); c) other needs of non-profits serving the communities and residents; d) improvement to transit connections that would be possible with lidding; e) how to mitigate impacts to I-5 traffic flow during construction.
Ron Davis
In office, what local, state, or other non-federal funding sources would you utilize to help the project design/engineering move ahead more quickly?
I’ve been advocating for new sources of revenue in general (corporate profit tax, close CCA loopholes, expand cap gains tax, etc.) and for infrastructure in particular (e.g., road usage charges/congestion pricing, tire tax, MVET increases for large vehicles and luxury vehicles). I’d love to pull from those. Barring success there, I have every intention to get myself on the transportation committee, where I will be fighting to cut funding for highway expansion and redirect it to maintenance, mitigation, and transit. This would be mitigation!
What uses on I-5 lids would reflect your values or vision? Housing, parks, markets, community centers, trails, something else?
Housing and parks with activation (could be markets, but some sort of attractive retail). The area is desperate for parks, and we are desperate for housing. That said, I’d want to know that emissions were low enough before concentrating housing around it.
What outcomes would you like to see from the upcoming community engagement and technical work led by Seattle OPCD?
I’d like to see more coalescing around a vision and a story, coupled with a representative timeline and some clarity around the next several steps/gates we need to pass through and what those might cost (with a theory of who might fund it and why).
Will Dreher
In office, what local, state, or other non-federal funding sources would you utilize to help the project design/engineering move ahead more quickly?
I would support funding from the state transportation budget, seek private funding with nonprofit or community organizations and corporations that would benefit from the increased density and desirability of downtown Seattle that the lidding project would create, and work with local leaders in Seattle and King County to continue to find local funds to support the same. What Seattle voters would really love to see is forward progress on our large infrastructure projects – not decades of delay.
What uses on I-5 lids would reflect your values or vision? Housing, parks, markets, community centers, trails, something else?
Housing and parks! We have a dearth of both in downtown Seattle. Greenspace is rarely gained in modern cities, and yet it is critically important as a gathering place, for citizens’ mental health and recreational opportunities and for the environment. It is also typically cheaper than alternative uses of lidded freeways, because it weighs significantly less. But using the space for additional housing would also help alleviate our housing shortage while ensuring the lidded areas become natural extensions of the residential neighborhoods to the east, rather than clear breaks between downtown and those neighborhoods.
What outcomes would you like to see from the upcoming community engagement and technical work led by Seattle OPCD?
I’d like to see a plan that is community oriented, that blends the residential neighborhoods to the east with the downtown districts to the west of I-5, that generates green space and other community public spaces with the new land, and that creates a neighborhood that is walkable and frequently walked–which typically means open spaces for community events/fairs/shows, small businesses, and housing. But I would also like to see a plan that prioritizes speed of planning and eventual completion.
Washington State House, District 46, Representative #2
1 of 2 candidates responded for this contest
Darya Farivar (incumbent)
In office, what local, state, or other non-federal funding sources would you utilize to help the project design/engineering move ahead more quickly?
I was proud to sponsor the 2023 Lid I-5 North Feasibility Study for the 46th district alongside Rep. Pollet and Rep. Macri. We requested $700,000 from the House Transportation Budget to help the construction of this essential project. Bringing a coalition of local stakeholders together, we pushed the feasibility project forward. However, clearly, this has not been enough to lead to its actual construction. In this upcoming cycle, I would like to focus on similar fundraising mechanisms, looking at allocating transportation funding at both the state and local levels towards this project. Continuing on this work, I would like to utilize similar coalition building strategies, bringing together community advocates, local businesses, and residents to create more effective and all-encompassing advocacy.
What uses on I-5 lids would reflect your values or vision? Housing, parks, markets, community centers, trails, something else?
A lid on I-5 creates exciting opportunities to fill the gaps in our communities. The biggest gap is a lack of affordable housing. I would love to see this space at least partially allocated to the provision of affordable housing. Especially given its proximity to I-5 and public transportation hubs, this space could be used effectively to provide affordable housing without compromising access to the city.
Alongside that idea, food access is becoming scarce with grocery stores closing at alarming rates and food access is already limited in downtown Seattle. With the creation of new housing, the need for a grocery store would become even more pronounced, so I would love to see a grocery store on the I-5 Lid. Given its central location, this would help combat the lack of grocery access for many people.
What outcomes would you like to see from the upcoming community engagement and technical work led by Seattle OPCD?
Too often, urban design is created with limited perspectives in mind, and does not adequately consult the people most affected. I hold the value “Nothing About Us Without Us” very close to my heart, and would like to see that all people impacted by a potential Lid have a large role in the planning process. I would therefore like to know that underrepresented communities have their voices heard and highlighted throughout all planning. I would further like to see that the city affirmatively supports the lid and what steps they will take to make it possible.
King County County Council, District 2
1 of 3 candidates responded for this contest
Toshiko Grace Hasegawa
In office, what local, state, or other non-federal funding sources would you utilize to help the project design/engineering move ahead more quickly?
I am so excited to be an early champion for the effort to lid I-5! The prospect is so exciting to me because it has so much potential to meaningfully connect communities, realize our goals of density, and address environmental harms from a history of transit injustice. I am so glad Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck has been an ardent advocate at the city; but this will require inter-jurisdictional support from the county. I want to be that champion, which is part of why I’m running for County Council.
I launched this campaign in January with lidding i-5 as a cornerstone of my platform for transit oriented development and economic development, and the proposal has lived on my campaign website since! Support for lidding I-5 as King County Councilmember would mean being a champion to continue to work the planning and design for the concept. I will seek to serve on the County’s Transportation, Economy and Environment (TrEE) Committee and push this as a priority to see the funds used to advance the work.
We should continue to seek funding from the State of Washington to support studying and refining the proposal. At the county we could use capital funds, but I also support progressive revenue tools, and have proposed establishing a public development authority for economic development and public banking for low-interest loans for capital projects. You can see more on this at my website on votetoshiko.com
What uses on I-5 lids would reflect your values or vision? Housing, parks, markets, community centers, trails, something else?
All of them! First, density.. I strongly believe that we should walk towards densifying as close to the urban core as possible, maximizing use of the space within our current boundaries rather than sprawling. This is an ambitious endeavor; transit oriented development on steroids. It’s tremendously exciting: creating diverse housing including affordable and social housing, accessibility to jobs and major train stations and metro routes, dramatically reducing SOV’’s to mitigate exponential population growth, the tens of thousands of good paying trade and union jobs to execute a mega-project of this magnitude, and perhaps most importantly, the social justice of rectifying marginalized communities exposure to air and noise pollution, healing the cut the severed them from opportunities, and gifting the public with beautiful new green spaces where future generations can recreate and breathe deep. This is the future I want for the city and communities I so deeply love!
What outcomes would you like to see from the upcoming community engagement and technical work led by Seattle OPCD?
I want the next phase of work to give naysaying purse holders a clear path from vision to implementation. I think people are bamboozled by grandiosity, and are currency operating under a scarcity mindset, in a time of temporary recession. As a Port Commissioner, I understand economic cycles, business cycles and budget cycles: this too shall pass. And we must be intentional about master planning for major infrastructure projects. We have to demonstrate this is possible, and it has to be written around the political unknowns and economic variables.
So in the immediate short term, I would hope to see a study that: does a project assessment: jurisdictional opportunities and challenges, cost/benefit scenarios, potential funding sources and partnerships, legal assessment, and public benefit requirements. The technical work should answer how a lid can deliver affordable housing, parks, childcare, safer connections, climate resilience, and pollution reduction without becoming another project that produces displacement. The outcome should be a plan strong enough to compete for funding, build a broad coalition, and keep momentum moving. We have to demonstrate to decision makers that it can be done, and that proper timing can mitigate hard costs.
As far as engagement processes, I want them to be accessible in commonly spoken languages with deliberate outreach to communities impacted by I-5 . A wonderful model for community engagement for a long-term public project is the Friends of the Waterfront’s approach to the Waterfront Redevelopment Project. This can be a model. As a community member I provided input, and then got to be part of the implementation and authorization/oversight over a decade later as a Port Commissioner. I believe my experiences and insights equip me to drive conversations with urgency at the county level.
King County County Council, District 8
1 of 3 candidates responded for this contest
Teresa Mosqueda (incumbent)
In office, what local, state, or other non-federal funding sources would you utilize to help the project design/engineering move ahead more quickly?
The federal funding delays are frustrating but not surprising given the current administration’s hostility to urban infrastructure investment, which is exactly why we cannot afford to wait on federal dollars to move this project forward.
At the county level I will explore using bonding authority and capital budget capacity to help bridge planning and design funding gaps. At the state level I will work with our Olympia delegation to pursue WSDOT funding and inclusion in state transportation packages, where there is growing appetite for urban freeway lid projects as tools for economic development, housing, and environmental remediation.
I also believe this project has strong potential for public-private partnership funding given the enormous development opportunity a lid creates – the air rights alone represent significant value that could attract private investment to offset public costs.
Most importantly, any development on a Lid I-5 must prioritize public green space, affordable housing, and community-serving uses – not just market-rate development that displaces the very communities most harmed by the freeway’s presence. The neighborhoods adjacent to I-5 have borne decades of noise, air pollution, and disinvestment, which is exactly why they must be first in line to benefit, with real decision-making power over what gets built.
What uses on I-5 lids would reflect your values or vision? Housing, parks, markets, community centers, trails, something else?
All of the above, but with a clear equity framework guiding what gets prioritized and who gets to decide.
My vision for Lid I-5 starts with abundant public green space and parks, because the neighborhoods adjacent to I-5 have been starved of green space while bearing the full burden of freeway pollution and noise. Trails and active transportation connections that stitch together neighborhoods long divided by the freeway are essential.
Affordable and workforce housing must be a central component – not an afterthought. We have a housing crisis and public land is too scarce and valuable to hand over primarily to market-rate development. Community land trusts and nonprofit developers should have a real seat at the table in shaping what gets built.
Community-serving uses – cultural institutions, community centers, markets, childcare facilities, small business space for BIPOC and immigrant entrepreneurs – are all also priorities. The Equitable Development Initiative model, which puts resources and decision-making power directly in the hands of communities, should guide how these spaces are allocated.
What I want to avoid is a lid that becomes an amenity for wealthy newcomers while displacing the communities that have lived alongside the freeway for generations. Done right, Lid I-5 can be a transformative act of environmental and racial justice. Done wrong, it accelerates gentrification. Development done right – by taking the lead from those affected by housing and economic displacement is a win. Community voice must come first.
What outcomes would you like to see from the upcoming community engagement and technical work led by Seattle OPCD?
I want to see community engagement that is genuinely bottom-up – not a process where technical decisions are already made and community input is collected as a formality. The Beer & Culture series surfaced important lessons that should guide OPCD’s work: compensation for community leaders who engage deeply, early and authentic outreach to the Chinatown-International District and other adjacent neighborhoods, and a clear articulation of how this project benefits existing residents not just future ones or tourists.
On the technical side I want to see realistic cost and phasing scenarios that identify which segments should be prioritized first, earthquake vulnerability assessments that create genuine urgency and leverage with WSDOT and state partners, and exploration of governance models – like the Friends of Waterfront Park structure – that can sustain the project through decades of implementation.
Most importantly I want the engagement process to center anti-displacement commitments from the start. The neighborhoods adjacent to I-5 have borne decades of harm from the freeway’s presence. Any vision that emerges from this process must guarantee that those communities – particularly the Chinatown-International District and low-income residents – are first in line to benefit, with real decision-making power and enforceable protections against gentrification baked into the plan from day one.
Seattle City Council, District 5
1 of 3 candidates responded for this contest
Neeloofar Jenks
In office, what local, state, or other non-federal funding sources would you utilize to help the project design/engineering move ahead more quickly?
I would need to learn more about the available funding sources, but I would be interested in exploring a mix of city, state, philanthropic, and private funding to keep the project moving forward. I would also focus on growing the coalition of groups supporting this work in order to help compete for funding opportunities in the future. Having a shared vision across climate advocates, communities impacted by I-5, transit and housing advocates, and labor can help make this a project everyone wants to advance together. I-5 often feels like a scar running through my district, so I am excited to learn more!
What uses on I-5 lids would reflect your values or vision? Housing, parks, markets, community centers, trails, something else?
The best use would serve multiple community needs at once. I would like to see a mix of public green space, affordable housing, community gathering spaces, and small business and market opportunities. Certainly, I want to see safe walking and biking trails that reconnect neighborhoods that were divided by the freeway. It would be great to use parts for natural corridors to help maintain the biodiversity of Seattle and help connect fragmented natural areas. We should also use part of the area for stormwater management especially in light of our changing weather.
What outcomes would you like to see from the upcoming community engagement and technical work led by Seattle OPCD?
I would like to see strong engagement with marginalized communities most impacted by the project, especially because of the complicated history of I-5 that split the CID when it was first created. . Lidding I-5 could create a lot of opportunities, from reconnecting communities divided by the freeway to creating new parks and public spaces, supporting biodiversity, and potentially creating publicly owned land that could be used for priorities like social housing.
I also think it is important to create a sense of urgency around the project while having an honest conversation about costs and benefits. Right now, many Seattleites are understandably skeptical after seeing the costs and delayed timelines associated with major infrastructure projects. I think people will want cost estimates they can trust, a clear path forward, and a vision that feels both exciting and achievable.
Lid I-5 