Candidates
*incumbent
Click here for PDF of City Councilor Andrea Campbell's responses.
Sections
About the Candidates
Do you personally walk to destinations in your community? If yes, how often do you do so?
Do you personally travel by/ use public transit to get around? If yes, which trains and buses do you routinely use?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| Yes |
| I live in Mattapan, so I take the Red Line. |
Do you personally bike in your community or commute by bike to other communities? If no, would you be willing to give it a try periodically, e.g. once or twice per month?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| No |
| I enjoy biking, but do not bike as a means to commute. I have (and would again) participated in community bike rides with groups such as the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition and Dot Bike, and done a Dorchester to Downtown commuter ride to experience what bike commuters in my district go through on their daily rides. |
Return to Table of Contents
Policy Proposals
How will you work to establish funding for the infrastructure changes needed to slow traffic on your community’s streets, and improve crosswalks and intersections to make them safer for people who are walking and using mobility assistive devices?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| I strongly support Vision Zero and the Neighborhood Slow Streets program and would like to see the funding for those efforts increase dramatically in the next few years, as traffic calming is one of the most common requests I hear from residents in my district. |
How will you improve the reach, frequency, and quality of public transit in your city/town?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| While the MBTA is a State agency, and the Boston City Council does not oversee its budget, my office can and will still advocate for changes residents in my district would like to see, such as increased frequency of the Fairmount Line, sustaining funding for the Mattapan High Speed Rail, and additional buses along certain routes, such as the 14 that goes down American Legion Hwy. I support the work of Imagine Boston 2030 and its plans to better connect neighborhoods through infrastructural and transit improvements. |
How will you ensure fast-tracked implementation of a city-/town-wide network of off-street paths and protected bike lanes* on major thoroughfares and connecting streets that are comfortable for people of all ages and abilities?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| There are currently no protected bike lanes in my district, and often the only bike infrastructure provided on the main streets or commuter routes are ësharrowsí or bike lanes adjacent to car-travel lanes that drivers often ignore. I will advocate for improved infrastructure along District 4ís major thoroughfares (Dorchester Avenue, Washington Street, Blue Hill Avenue, and American Legion Hwy), specifically infrastructure that puts more distance between bikers and cars, such as protected bike lanes, so that more residents can feel like biking is a safe option. I would like to see safer routes and better bike infrastructure around the Neponset River Greenway, which recently opened its extension to Mattapan Square and is a great resource for families and new cyclists. |
How will you increase access to biking in every neighborhood equally? What do you see as the major obstacles to encouraging ridership, and how will you address them?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| Currently of the 180 Hubway stations in the greater Boston area, 125 of which are in Boston, only one of them is in District 4. I will work closely with Boston Bikes and District 4 residents to bring Hubway stations to more locations in the district and to determine the most accessible and engaging spot for these locations. Increasing access to bikes is just one way to increase biking, for this reason I support and elevate the efforts of groups such as the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition who raise awareness and increase access to biking by teaching residents not only how to ride safely but how biking is connected to their health and wellness. |
How will you increase funding for biking infrastructure?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| I will continue to advocate to increase funding for initiatives like Vision Zero and Slow Streets that transform our streets to provide distinct space for bikers and pedestrians. I will advocate for bike infrastructure when meeting with developers, so that the City is proactive in creating bike-oriented transit and infrastructure as new developments are constructed. |
Return to Table of Contents
Yes/No Questions
Do you support the adoption of Vision Zero and funding for its rapid implementation? Vision Zero is an approach which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030 and has been adopted by several communities, including Boston and Cambridge.
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| Yes |
| I am a strong supporter of Vision Zero and am delighted that one of the 2016 pilot programs was in my district, in Codman Square, and that three of the 2017 programs to roll out will be in my district – Grove Hall, WOW Coalition (Dorchester), and Mount Hope (Roslindale). I have been and will continue to advocate for funding to implement traffic calming measures through the Vision Zero program, as well as on a case-by-case basis in neighborhoods that not part of a Slow Streets program. |
Do you support lowering design speeds through traffic calming measures on downtown and neighborhood streets as a means of enhancing the safety of people walking, using mobility assistive devices, biking, and driving? This may involve the expansion and enhancement of programs like Neighborhood Slow Streets (Boston) and Neighborways (Somerville).
One key strategy that has been proven to effectively reduce speeding, improve safety, and remove racial bias in traffic enforcement in other states and countries is automated enforcement (i.e. speed cameras and red light cameras). Do you support state legislation that authorizes the use of automated enforcement in Massachusetts, per the July 2017 recommendation of the National Transportation Safety Board?
Do you support redesigning space on the street in order to improve safety for people biking by creating protected bike lanes?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| Yes |
| Protected bike lanes are a critical measure in making all road-users safer by giving bikers, drivers, and pedestrians their own space to travel on the roadway. It is important to me that residents who choose to bike can comfortably and safely get around the city. We need protected bike lanes in every neighborhood so that residents can not only safely bike downtown but so they can safely bike from one neighborhood to another. |
Do you support the increased use of curb extensions to improve safety and visibility at intersections, even if it requires the removal of one to two parking spaces?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| Yes |
| Curb extensions greatly improve visibility at intersections and benefit drivers, bikers, and pedestrians because they force drivers to slow down and pause prior to turning. Often times, parked cars inhibit driversí ability to safely move through an intersection, and my office frequently gets requests for better signage or traffic enforcement at street corners to limit cars parking in those spots. Curb extensions provide a more effective solution to this common neighborhood concern. |
Do you support implementation of all of the Better Bike Corridors and other bike projects in the Go Boston 2030 Plan, and commit to making sure all short-term projects are planned and implemented within three years, and long-term projects are implemented by or before 2030?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| Yes |
| I support bike projects such as Better Bike Corridors which strive to increase safety and comfort for riders. I am delighted to see that areas in and around District 4 such as Codman Square/Four Corners Neighborways, American Legion, Columbia Road, and Grove Hall/Newmarket Neighborways have already been identified as priority projects and I will advocate for swift implementation. |
Will you address age-friendly walking in your community — an issue raised by many seniors as critical to their ability to “age in community”? If yes, how?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| Yes |
| Making sure our seniors can live comfortably and with dignity in Boston is priority for me and my office, which is why I hired a part-time staffer as my Senior Advisor, to focus specifically on issues affecting seniors in my district. Making our streets safer and easier to navigate is part of making sure seniors can live comfortably in our neighborhoods. We have supported Neighborhood Slow Streets applications where large populations of senior residents live, and consistently advocate for better signage, additional crosswalks, replacing and/or adding street lights, and sidewalk repairs to address visibility and accessibility when residents bring these concerns to our office. |
Boston has many traffic signals that do not work well for pedestrians. Will you work to make signal timing safer, easier, and more convenient for people walking and using mobility assistive devices at all paces?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| Yes |
| My office has worked with community members to advocate for improvements at specific intersections, such as pedestrian-first traffic signals, in the district, including at a Vision Zero Forum we held with Greater Ashmont Main Street where we identified key areas for improvement and had residents input traffic signal concerns directly into 311 and the Vision Zero map. |
Do you support the restriction of on-street parking during rush hour on major thoroughfares in order to provide lanes for the exclusive use of buses?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| Yes |
| I canít say I would always support this idea but I would be interested in piloting it if it seemed like the best traffic-calming solution for a particular neighborhood or main street. |
Do you support the creation of a staff position within the Transportation Department solely devoted to managing transit in the City of Boston?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| Yes |
| This idea is worth exploring in the next budget cycle. |
Do you support exploring new ways of raising revenue to provide the City of Boston with more tools to improve conditions for people walking, using mobility assistive devices, and biking (e.g. congestion pricing)? If yes, please give examples that interest you.
Do you support charging an annual fee for residential parking permits?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| No |
| I think this is idea worth exploring as a means to increase revenue for transit improvements in the City, but I cannot take a position on this until I have discussed it in community and heard what residents in my district think. |
Do you support the rollout of dynamic parking meter pricing (i.e. increasing meter rates during periods of increased demand) in business districts to free up on-street parking and reduce cars “cruising” for open spaces?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| Yes |
| I am inclined to support this, and would be interested to review the outcome of the pilot program in Back Bay to see if it would be useful in areas of my district. I look forward to meeting with advocates to learn more about this idea and identify areas in D4 where it might be useful. |
Will you help the community of Charlestown work with the City to develop a consensus design for Rutherford Ave and Sullivan Square that balances the community’s desire for walkability, connectivity, open space and resiliency with vehicular traffic?
| Andrea Campbell |
|---|
| No |
| I represent District 4, which comprises large parts of Dorchester and Mattapan, as well as small parts of Roslindale and Jamaica Plain, and focus on traffic improvements within the neighborhoods in my district. I will be interested to learn the outcomes of the Rutherford Ave project that might be replicated in other parts of the City, including in District 4. I look forward to being an active partner and advocate for the residents participating in the Neighborhood Slow Streets programs underway in my district. |
Return to Table of Contents