Seattle transportation department likely to return $4M to feds

The Seattle Department of Transportation has concluded it will likely need to return more than $4 million to the federal government after an internal review raised issues with how a 2017 grant from the Federal Highway Administration was executed.

Among the issues was how the department hired contractors to work on the grant, which was tailored toward improving mobility in Seattle’s University District, including updating 40 signals in the University District and adding new curb ramps and CCTV cameras.

Staff concluded that a consultant brought on to oversee the grant had an unfair competitive advantage in the process, having already begun similar work even before the grant application had been submitted. That carryover should not have been allowed, staff said.

Of the total $4.1 million g