Major road closures, traffic alerts for CicLAvia event in Los Angeles

Road closures for the CicLAvia event will affect L.A. traffic on Sunday.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., portions of a dozen streets will be closed to car traffic on a zigzagging route that extends from East Hollywood through Westlake and into downtown Los Angeles and Boyle Heights.

In this car-centric metropolis, where drivers spend an average of 72 hours stuck in traffic annually and jaywalkers are heavily fined, CicLAvia, as the event is known, is something of a marvel.

It is designed to challenge the idea — so ingrained in the city's psyche — that automobiles rule the road.

It's a free-form event. There's no official schedule to tell you what's happening where. But organizers say they have heard of people planning to use that space for soccer matches, yoga classes, dance routines and political protests. And because many of CicLAvia's planners are active in L.A.'s growing bicycle scene, there are sure to be cyclists galore.

A diverse group of bike activists, transportation experts, academics, artists and event planners has been working for a couple of years to make CicLAvia, pronounced seek-la-VEE-uh, a reality.

-- Kate Linthicum

Map: CicLAvia

Comments

[Tom Gravelton]

Sweet!

[DougStewart]

LAME.

[Tom M.]

Dumb......

[David]

What a waste of time, money, and resources, not to mention an inconvenience over the weekend.

[Jim Q. Citizen]

Further proof that these L.A. trust-fund babies have WAY TOO MUCH TIME ON THEIR HANDS.

Think of all the poor working stiffs who won't make it to work today and may end up short on their rent/food/childcare obligations.

[bob]

I don't understand what this event is about. Close down major traffic routes so people can play in the street? What is the goal?

[tyler]

So lets all get in our cars to drive down there to walk.Dumb idea.Heres a thought? Why not use some money to provide public trans.No one wants to take 3 buses.That is why L.A isnt a city.

[Sylvan]

Thanks, comment posters, for telling us your names.

[Sylvan]

Thanks, comment posters, for telling us your names.

[Dave]

And The City off LA Can Afford Garbage and pay for Security for events like this when Police and Fire Budgets are cut back ? Give it a break and cancel the event or let the event pay the real costs for this .

The LAPD needs the money .

[Est Nyboer]

"I don't understand what this event is about. Close down major traffic routes so people can play in the street? What is the goal?"

Exactly. Get out of your box, tool.

[Lisa Porter]

I went to this event. It was very well organized and fun. I don't understand all the negative comments. Hardly anyone works in downtown L.A. on Sunday and the traffic holdups were negligible. Nowadays it seems that when anyone tries to do something positive there are always complainers and whiners.

[3rd Gen L A Native]

This is/was a great event!! Don't get me wrong, I love cars but I also value my health and quality of life. My son and I rode our bicycles to the event and rode the whole route start to finish and back. It was a great way to see the city and everybody seemed to be having a good time! All different types of people were there, lots of families, people of all ages and everybody was friendly, courteous, getting exercise and not polluting! I think this was an excellent use of city resources(it seemed very well run) to help build community spirt, get people out of their cars and proves that L A would benefit greatly from becoming more bicycle and pedestrian friendly.

By the way during peak traffic it is often way faster to ride a bicycle on surface streets then being in bumper to bumper traffic in a car.

[John M.]

The people bashing this event clearly didn't go. I just got back after a fantastic Sunday with my family. A friend of mine helped organized this event and nearly all the funding was provided by private donations...not the city. I can't wait for the next one!

[Disgusted]

This is ridiculous!

Not only does it block the citizens who live in these areas from living out their day...it costs us taxpayers even more with the extra police, DOT, etc to monitor this.

Go to the beach bike lanes and have at it...the city streets are not the place and we who live in these areas should not be blocked in because of this ..we already have too many "events" that cause upheavel ..we don't need to add to another.

Could this just be a case of pandering to the "bike" crowd because of potential lawsuits against the city?????

This city is too congested...to fast paced...to overcrowded to have to worry about bikes weaving in and out of cars..which I witnessed last night as a mob of them went down the street. God forbid if one gets hit by a car. This is just not the city for this...go to the outskirts..try it there.

[Peter Ghery]

This is dumb. I wasn't going to take my fat buns out of the house today, but now I'm inconvenienced on a SUNDAY by people outside enjoying the city in a way that isn't harmful for them or other people.

This is absurd.

--Stupid LA Times commenters.

[Markus]

What an excellent day! Had terrific fun meeting people from all over LA and the world enjoying the sights that you really can't appreciate behind the wheel. Loads of impromptu concerts, dancing, chalk events, and people just having fun. You had to be there. To those griping and bitching, you just missed out.

[Louis Kreusel]

Wow, unbelievable negativity here. LA is severely lacking in open space and people really need to get out and enjoy themselves. This is all about slowing down and enjoying life. cicLAvia is based on an event they have been doing for many year in Columbia and it has been a huge success over there and is being duplicated all over the world. They do it EVERY Sunday in Columbia and 30% of the population take part.

I just came from cicLAvia and it was loads of fun. The streets were full of people of all ages, and everyone was having a blast. Congratulations and thank you to the organizers for making it happen!

Here's a video about ciclovia in Columbia: http://www.streetfilms.org/ciclovia-express-version/

[CMC]

I see the point, but wouldn't closing a few streets in each neighborhood have been a better tact? My sister traveled 10+ miles to take part. Better to close a few streets in each neighborhood so people can get familiar with their home turf on foot or by bike...

[p senio]

What is this event COSTING the City in sales tax revenue? What did the downtown merchants do to deserve losing the revenue for the whole day? What about the twenty thousand people that live down town and are blocked in? How about the downtown gyms that stand empty because the people can not get to them? Why not take the bicycles to the beach and the bike trails??? or to the outskirts of the city?

[Joel Epstein]

CicLAvia gave tens of thousands of Angelenos a chance to get out onto their usually traffic clogged streets for a few hours today. It should happen more often and is the sort of thing city government should have the vision to support. Judging from the negative comments we have a lot of work to do to explain why CicLAvia matters and why it benefits us all. Expanding the program and bringing it to other neighborhoods will help the critics see why the idea is so inspired and worthwhile.

[Cynthia M]

I hope they do this every month! We had a great time. It was wonderful to be able to walk the streets without the noise and air pollution of motor vehicles. We were able to meet and talk with people in the community. Too bad there weren't more shops open. The shops and restaurants that were open didn't seem like they had enough staff to quickly take care of customers, but everyone was in a good mood so it didn't matter. Those of you who didn't attend, you missed out on a lot of fun. This is a great way to experience LA--outside the car.

[SLM]

WOW, what a fun event! My own extended family and friends met up for this event and rode throughout the day, enjoying the company, conversations and commeraderie all the fellow participants.
I don't understand the negativity of some of the people. But, I do understand how all envolved had a great time at this event. Staff was outstanding in helping out at intersections where cars were allowed to cross, event water stands, etc. Cannot wait for news of the next event!

[SPEED RATLIFF]

I am really surprised by the intense negativity. Here in this great sprawling metropolis, for just 5 hours, a small 7 mile stretch,on secondary roads, was given to the people of this wonderful city to just enjoy! Anyone who was there will tell it was awesome! The rich diversity of this city was in full bloom and everyone was smiling! I have lived here all my life. I have been biking for many years. This was different. a real feeling of community, actually seeing the neighborhoods and different cultures seamlessly blend and change from one to another, took my senses by surprise. Going from Hollywood to Boyle Heights was like visiting five or six different cities! Everybody there got it. This was simply a great idea. And its execution was flawless! Glad I was there!

[danceralamode]

I agree, you naysayers probably didn't go anywhere near the event, don't live in those neighborhoods, and are just complaining to complain. I am a resident of one of the neighborhoods this event transgressed, and none of my neighbors seemed upset. There were plenty of main street crossing points, so the route was better than the LA Marathon where you can't get across anywhere. If anything, it added maybe 5 minutes to your drive and a very slight detour. But those of you that complain that it inconveniences the residents are so wrong: they were all participating! Business owners were smiling and happy to be making money, there were at least 10,000 people there, and it was a great way to take back our streets for PEOPLE not CRIME & CARS.

I was there, and it was my best day in LA in my 8+ years of living here. If you are complaining and didn't go or didn't get affected, shut up. As a previous poster stated, it didn't cost the city anything as all was paid for by private donations.