Author: Riley Kimball
On Sunday, Los Angeles’ first ever CicLAvia event closed 7.5 miles of downtown road to cars and invited pedestrians and cyclists to roam the streets, participate in festivities and visit shops along the way. As one of the most polluted cities in the country, L.A. held host to these events to combat pollution while also challenging the convention of planning cities around vehicular transportation.
CicLAvia is part of a shifting paradigm in urban planning and use of public space. “It’s about figuring out other ways you can permanently or temporarily take streets away from just being used for cars and open them up to people,” UEPI Policy Director Mark Vallianatos said.
Vallianatos sees CicLAvia as indicative of a new focus in L.A. transportation. “Streets are like the DNA of the city. If you dedicate them entirely to cars, that tends to program a certain type of land use. It leads to strip malls, and people not exercising a lot. If you change their usage and shift the way people get around, it leads to a different kind of city.”
The event’s focus reflected Los Angelenos’ ever-growing enthusiasm for a change in the transportation system. “As we go through more and more of downtown, L.A. seems like more and more of a different place. Isn’t it great?” said one participant.
The route stretched from East Hollywood to Boyle Heights, passing through the downtown area. Public parks located at either end and at two points along the path provided opportunities to stop and rest, and each had several food trucks. The parks also housed donation stations to support CicLAvia and emergency stations for those in need of medical attention or a new tube for a blown tire.
For those who participated, Los Angeles felt like a new city. “Riding through the streets of L.A. without the fear of careless drivers provided a whole new perspective. You could actually take time to absorb your surroundings and enjoy the scenery of downtown,” Anna Dalton (junior) said.
Kids played in the streets, drum circles started in the middle of downtown, and neighbors watched and cheered for passersby. A “Kick Coal and Oil Out of L.A.” rally took place in front of city hall, drawing from the crowd of environmentally-friendly bicyclists passing by.
L.A.’s CicLAvia is based on the Colombian ciclovía, which means “bike path” in Spanish. For over 30 years, Bogotá has held ciclovía events, which now occur weekly and span over 70 miles of roads closed to cars. The practice has spread throughout Latin America and has started to take hold in the United States.
CicLAvia is the culmination of two years of planning. The team of organizers includes members of the L.A. County Bicycle Coalition, UCLA and UC Irvine grad students, LA government officials and more. Notable among the organizers is Oxy alumnus Joe Linton, who continues to consult with UEPI from time to time, and who helped organize last year’s L.A. Bike Summit and this year’s Street Summit.
Given Oxy’s connection to the organizers, Vallianatos believes Oxy can be a part of expanding CicLAvia. “We have experience in getting permission from the state to shut down a freeway, and that event, Arroyo Fest, was really successful. We’d definitely be interested in collaborating on future CicLAvias, expanding them, doing versions of them in northeast Los Angeles near Occidental,” he said.
However, whether or not CicLAvia becomes a regular event depends on Los Angelenos’ enthusiasm.
Vallianatos is confident that the demand exists. “When a city becomes more dense, there’s a greater impetus and ability to have transit-oriented, complete streets-oriented transportation, because people have a desire to live near where they work, and be able to walk and bike and take transit to places they want to go. Then they don’t feel they need their car as much and it just becomes impossible to have a car-based system because there’s too many people,” he said.
“Seeing the number of participants was encouraging,” Dalton said. “It shows that L.A. is moving in a more pedestrian-friendly direction.”
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