CicLAvia Officials Work to Bring Event to South Gate

Have you ever imagined walking on the 710 freeway? Or biking down Tweedy Boulevard without a car in sight?

Soon, that vision might just become a reality thanks to the efforts of CicLAvia officials, who are currently working to bring the famous Los Angeles event to the Southeast.

Since 2010, the CicLAvia event has offered people the opportunity to walk, run and bike on freeways and streets usually congested with cars by closing all streets to anyone in a vehicle. At each event there have been more than 100,000 participants, said Aaron Paley, co-founder and executive director of CicLAvia.

According Paley, the vision to bring CicLAvia to Lynwood, South Gate and Huntington Park is in the works, and could be here as soon as next year.

Event officials said they are also looking to expand to Pomona and San Fernando.

"If we can get people moving and exercising in different places it positively affects their health…[and] changes your perspective on things," Paley said.

One of the reasons these Southeast Los Angeles cities were chosen for the event's expansion is because of its public health record, Paley added. According to the latest statistics from the City of Lynwood, nearly 26% of youth in Lynwood are obese. The goal with CicLAvia, Paley said, is to get people moving and excited about exercise.

"(CicLAvia) is about people taking control of their space, lives and cities, what can we do to make a difference right here where we live," he said.

For those who have never experience CicLAvia, this year's event will take place on Sunday, April 15 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is free and open to all, no registration necessary.

The 10-mile CicLAvia route runs from East Hollywood to Boyle Heights, including MacArthur Park, downtown, and Little Tokyo, with a north-south extension from the African American Firefighter Museum on Central Avenue to El Pueblo de Los Angeles and Olvera Street, ending at Cesar Chavez Boulevard.

For more information, visit http://www.ciclavia.org/.

To get involved in the effort to bring CicLAvia to Southeast Los Angeles send an e-mail to mail@carsla.net.