Bethel Park council adopts 2025 Active Transportation Plan; resident calls for new survey

The Bethel Park Borough Council voted 8-0 on April 13 to adopt the Municipality of Bethel Park 2025 Active Transportation Plan (Resolution R4-13-26A), a plan councilmembers said will guide pedestrian and bicycle projects across the borough.

Councilmember Miss Garris moved to adopt the plan and Mister Oakes seconded; the motion passed unanimously after a roll call. The transcript records no further council debate on the resolution.

Why it matters: supporters say a formal plan helps prioritize sidewalk and bike investments and strengthens applications for outside grant funding. Opponents and some residents say the plan’s underlying outreach and cost estimates need more work.

During the meeting’s public-comment period, resident Kevin Sheehan urged the council to reopen the underlying survey before implementing the plan. “I saw some of the supposed results from the survey before the plan was designed, and I think it was biasedly done to a pro walking pro bicycle people,” Sheehan said. He also asked repeatedly for the project cost and warned that Bethel Park’s hilly topography makes walking and bicycling difficult: “We’re not flat. It’s tough for people to walk and ride bikes.”

Councilmembers recorded no response to Sheehan’s request to redo the survey in the meeting transcript. The resolution as recorded in the meeting adopts the 2025 plan; the transcript does not list specific funding commitments or a capital schedule tied to the adoption.

Next steps: The council’s formal adoption places the plan into municipal policy, which officials can use when seeking grants or prioritizing projects; the transcript does not specify a timetable for project design, cost estimates, or grant applications.

Provenance: topic introduced SEG 723; last related discussion SEG 757.