AARP Pittsburgh Announces 2024 Walk Audit Summary
AARP Pittsburgh is pleased to announce a summary compiling pedestrian safety recommendations from two recent Walk Audits in Pittsburgh’s 31st Ward neighborhoods.
The purpose of AARP Walk Audits is to assess the accessibility, pedestrian safety, and vibrancy of these neighborhoods for people of all ages. The summary serves as a proactive first step to help inform local decision-making by prioritizing areas in need of improvement and educating community members about the importance of street and sidewalk design.
Read the full summary here.
The Walk Audits were a collaborative local effort, engaging 35 participants from a variety of local partners, including AARP Pittsburgh, Councilperson Barb Warwick’s Office, the 31st Ward Community Action Group, Mt. Rise Baptist Church, and residents from the 31st Ward’s Lincoln Place and New Homestead communities. Both audits took place in the afternoon during normal traffic, the first in the Lincoln Place neighborhood on Thursday May 23rd and the second in the New Homestead neighborhood on Thursday, June 13th.
Leveraging input from local residents and stakeholders, the Walk Audit Summary offers 8 key recommendations including suggested ways to improve traffic infrastructure at key intersections in the neighborhoods, locations for additional signage and enforcement to protect pedestrians, and areas where highly-trafficked roads can be better serviced with regular maintenance and overgrowth removal.
The summary will be shared with city stakeholders as an early planning tool for pinpointing specific strengths and challenges related to walkability and paving the way for targeted interventions and policy recommendations.
“The Walk Audit provides an effective tool that can enhance the conditions of streets, intersections, sidewalks, and pedestrian safety for people of all ages,” says Colleen Cadman, Associate State Director of Advocacy and Outreach at AARP Pennsylvania. “This summary offers practical solutions on ways to make these communities safer and more accessible for everyone."
These community Walk Audits follow on the footsteps of the City of Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s commitment earlier this Spring to making Pittsburgh a Vision Zero City. Vision Zero is a global movement to eliminate all traffic-related fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.
Read the full summary here.
City of Pittsburgh District 5 Councilperson Barb Warwick has also championed local Vision Zero efforts with strong collaboration across City Council and Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI). Warwick attended both Walk Audits and noted:
“We are really grateful to AARP for stepping forward as a partner in improving pedestrian access and safety in our city. Eliminating traffic-related deaths in Pittsburgh - Vision Zero - is a major undertaking. Walk audits like these help us better understand the most urgent needs in our communities and figure out the steps we can take to make walking safer for everyone.”
“The 31st Ward of the City of Pittsburgh is one of the most unique in the City. Not only is it separated from the rest of the City wards, but its 4 neighborhoods are separated from each other by heavily-trafficked roads and various municipalities,” said Ryan Herbinko, President of the 31st Ward Community Action Group. “Adding to this division both in and out of the ward, is the lack of sidewalks and safe areas for pedestrians to walk throughout the ward. As President of the 31st Ward Community Action Group, I believe it is our role to advocate for the residents of the Ward. To that end, partnering with AARP on the Walk Audits helped us brainstorm how to keep people safe while navigating their daily activities.”
Tracey Bey, a resident of New Homestead shared: "AARP's walk audit has been beneficial to the New Homestead community. The 31st district, which includes Lincoln Place, Hayes, Gates Manor, and New Homestead, often receives minimal services. This audit helped gather crucial information to address areas needing attention, such as street maintenance, adequate lighting, safe driving speed humps, police visibility, and ensuring fire hydrants are up to code.” Bey also noted that since the walk audit, several stop signs have already been installed at some of the noted intersections.
AARP Pittsburgh Volunteer Karla Perelstine reflected with the following: “Building and sustaining a community isn't the work of just one person or even a few; it's a collective effort involving everyone, regardless of age or income. ‘It takes a village’ is more than just a saying—it's a reality. These Walk Audits highlighted many opportunities for improvement, from creating safer routes for children to walk to school to making busy intersections more pedestrian-friendly for everyone. By listening to community members' concerns, it is my hope that we can work toward enhancing our communities and ensure they remain vibrant, safe and secure.”
For more information about AARP’s Walk Audits and how AARP works to make our communities safer and more livable for people of all ages, please contact Colleen Cadman at ccadman@aarp.org.
