2019 General Election: BIKE WALK VOTE CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE SURVEY – DISTRICT 5

City Council District 5 Candidate response to biking and walking issues

Since 2009, BikePGH has been educating our members and facebook and twitter followers on how committed the candidates are to improving your experience and safety while biking and walking.

We’ve collected questionnaires from nearly every City Council candidate for the upcoming general election in November. If you are unsure what district you live in, please see the City’s website. You can also find your polling location here. You must be registered in order to vote.

BikePGH is not allowed to endorse candidates. Answers have been lightly edited for formatting, otherwise these are their words.

Bike Walk Vote the General Election on Tuesday, November 5

District 5 Candidate

Corey O’Connor 


Questions/Answers


Question 1: What roles do you think the city council can play in making cities safe, accessible and friendly for residents to walk and bike?

Corey O’Connor: City Council has an important role to play in making Pittsburgh safe for all residents, and it’s our responsibility to ensure we develop programs to achieve that goal. I’m proud of our work on initiatives like Complete Streets, which make our roadways secure and accessible, and believe more can be done to build a truly accessible and walk-and-bike-friendly city.


Question 2:We’d like to hear your thoughts on the expanding bike lane network over the past decade. What’s working? Where can the City improve?

Corey O’Connor: I’ve been supportive of our bike lane construction, and I believe that we should expand the network further into our city’s neighborhoods. As we do so, we should pay special attention to connecting these lanes to existing trail networks, in an effort to eventually link all our transportation corridors. Doing so would provide equitable and efficient transit options to all Pittsburghers, regardless of where in the city they live.


Question 3: What are some of your proudest accomplishments in District 5 regarding better biking and/or walking?

Corey O’Connor: When we rebuilt the Greenfield Bridge in District 5 – itself a major transit artery – I made sure we added a bike line to help better connect our district to the rest of the city.


Question 4: What’s a particularly dangerous problem or location in your district for walkers, bikers, or people with disabilities that you’d like to see addressed?

Corey O’Connor: I’m currently working with the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission to conduct a road safety study of Shady Avenue. It’s imperative that we do more to make this well-traveled roadway safer for all our residents to use.


Question 5: Is this something that the Council can address?

Corey O’Connor: I believe it is. We can work with the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure to address the findings of the Commission’s study and work to implement them. While we do so, Council should ensure all the affected communities have input into our agreed-upon changes, upgrades, and updates.


CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO 2019 BIKE WALK VOTE GENERAL ELECTION SURVEYS


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