For decades, Los Angeles has been built around cars, but that equation has been slowly changing. From ongoing public transit improvements to major expansions and upgrades across the Metro system, Angelenos have more ways to get around without having to get behind the wheel.
Community events also play a big role in that paradigm shift, temporarily transforming familiar roads into places to gather, explore, and move around differently. One of the biggest examples is CicLAvia, which will host what is likely its largest event of the year this month, with 6.5 miles of streets closed to traffic across half a dozen neighborhoods.
CicLAvia is taking over the streets for a day
The 68th CicLAvia Heart of L.A. event will take place on Sunday, October 11, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., connecting the following neighborhoods along an open streets route:
- 🏙️ Downtown
- 🏮 Chinatown
- 🎎 Little Tokyo
- 🎨 Arts District
- 🌆 Boyle Heights
- 🌳 Echo Park
The event is free, and there is no starting line or finish line. You can join the route wherever you want and spend as much or as little time exploring as you like, temporarily removing motorized traffic and turning the roadway into public space for people to walk, bike, skate, roll, or simply hang out.
Bikes, skateboards, rollerblades, and other people-powered forms of transportation are welcome. Electric scooters, electric skateboards, hoverboards, electric unicycles, motorcycles, and other non-people-powered vehicles are not permitted, with exceptions for mobility devices used by people with disabilities.
CicLAvia Heart of L.A. street closures
The route will be closed to motor vehicles from 7 a.m. to approximately 6 p.m., with Bellevue beginning its closure at 6 a.m. Adjacent streets will remain accessible to residents and businesses, while cars will be able to cross the route at selected major intersections.
The closures include:
- 2nd Street from Glendale Boulevard to Broadway.
- Glendale Boulevard from 2nd Street to Bellevue Avenue.
- Bellevue Ave. from Glendale Boulevard to Echo Park Avenue.
- Broadway from 2nd Street to Bernard Street.
- 1st Street from Broadway to Alameda and from S. St. Louis Street to S. Boyle Avenue.
- S. Central Avenue from 1st Street to 6th Street.
- 6th Street from S. Central Avenue to Whittier Boulevard.
- Whittier Boulevard from E. 6th Street to S. Boyle Avenue.
- S. Boyle Avenue from Whittier Boulevard to S. St. Louis Street.
- S. St. Louis Street from S. Boyle Avenue to 1st Street.
Since parking and driving around the route will be complicated, taking public transportation is highly recommended, with several Metro stations less than a mile from the route, including:
- 🌳 Pershing Square
- 🏛️ Civic Center/Grand Park
- 🎭 Historic Broadway
- 🎨 Little Tokyo/Arts District
- 🏮 Chinatown
- 🎺 Mariachi Plaza
- 🚆 Union Station
