The Atlanta City Council is considering legislation to make Peachtree Street car-free every Sunday as part of a weekly Atlanta Streets Alive activation.
Nonprofit Atlanta Bicycle Coalition (ABC) sent out an email on Thursday encouraging supporters to take action by contacting the city council and mayor’s office.
Up until the pandemic struck in 2020, ABC was hosting three to four Atlanta Streets Alive activations per year, blocking vehicle traffic on stretches of major thoroughfares like Peachtree and DeKalb Avenue and opening them up for bicyclists, walkers, skaters, and scooters.
From 2010 to 2019 there were 29 Atlanta Streets Alive events with 1.7 participants. The Peachtree Street events have regularly drawn some of the largest crowds, with more than 100,000 in just a few hours.
ABC executive director Rebecca Serna said a weekly Atlanta Streets Alive would bring an 11-year old dream to life. Serna conceived of the street closure activation after witnessing Ciclovia in Bogota, Colombia. That event also sees streets closed every Sunday and draws 1.5 million participants.