Mayor Jones, Sports Backers announce RVA Streets Alive!

The streets will be alive with the sound of pedestrians and bicycles later this summer, as a new event will clear city streets of cars.

April 2, 2013; 10:46 AM • by Nathan Cushing

The City will close off a 2.5-mile loop of roads, including parts of the Manchester Bridge, to automobile traffic to allow walkers, runners, bicyclists, and others to traverse city streets during the inaugural RVA Streets Alive! event on Saturday, June 22nd from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM.

Mayor Dwight Jones, Councilwoman Ellen Robertson (6th District), Sports Backers Executive Director, Jon Lugbill, and Richmond City Health District Director, Dr. Donald Stern, announced the event, meant to encourage outdoor activity, this morning at the Turning Basin on the Canal Walk.

“This is one event that all Richmonders can take part in, no matter what their fitness preference is,” said Jon Lugbill of Sports Backers, co-organizers of the event with Mayor Dwight Jones’s Healthy Richmond Campaign and the Richmond City Health District. “Whether you are a runner, a biker, or a yoga enthusiast, the road is open for you.”

The 2.5-mile loop will comprise the southbound lanes of the Manchester Bridge.¹ The course will then bear left on Commerce Road. At Hull Street, the course will turn left and cross the 14th Street Bridge to Canal Street, where it’ll continue to Virginia Street. The course will then cross the Canal before turning right at the Floodwall, up the parking lot to Byrd Street, where it will reconnect with the Manchester Bridge.

Mayor Jones praised both the event and the outdoor exercise it encourages.

“This event will provide an interactive platform to celebrate the active lifestyle that is vitally important to the health of our city,” Jones said. “With fitness and movement as its centerpiece, this outdoor health fair is the beginning of a unique Richmond tradition.”

RVA Streets Alive! will take place on Saturday, June 22nd from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM.

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