MINNEAPOLIS (July 8, 2016) — This season’s second Open Streets Minneapolis event will take place along Washington and First avenues in downtown Minneapolis this coming weekend. It will give residents, families and neighbors opportunities to walk, bike, skate, have fun and shop in a safe, car-free environment.
Open Streets Minneapolis will take place Sunday, July 10 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on First Avenue between Eighth Street North and Washington Avenue, and on Washington Avenue between First Avenue North and Seventh Avenue North. This area will be closed to motor vehicle traffic. The free event is open to everyone, giving the opportunity to enjoy biking, walking, skating, playing and using wheelchairs on their neighborhood street without the presence of motorized traffic.
Open Streets Minneapolis events are designed to help promote environmentally friendly transportation choices such as walking, bicycling and mass transit. They also help promote good public health by encouraging active, healthy lifestyles.
This is one of eight Open Streets Minneapolis events taking place this year. Upcoming events include East Lake (July 24), Northeast (Aug. 7), Franklin (Aug. 21), West Broadway (Sept. 10), Nicollet (Sept. 18) and University of Minnesota (Oct. 1). The first Open Streets Minneapolis event took place on Lyndale Avenue South six years ago and drew more than 5,000 participants. Since then, the number of events has grown each year and are now attended annually, in total, by tens of thousands of pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders and wheelchair users.
Open Streets Downtown is presented by the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District. Open Streets Minneapolis is a City of Minneapolis event hosted by the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition and presented by The Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.
For more information on this year’s events, visit the Open Streets Minneapolis website at www.openstreetsmpls.com. To learn more about bicycling in Minneapolis, visit the City’s bicycling website at www.minneapolismn.gov/bicycles.
