13 Cities, Including Pacifica, to Close Streets to Cars for Second Annual 'Streets Alive' Event

Thirteen cities in San Mateo County are closing their streets to cars this weekend and opening them to walkers, bikers and other revelers.

The second annual "Streets Alive" will be held from 10 a.m. to 2p.m. Sunday across the county and will include events ranging from exercise and dance classes to picnicking and play.

Last year's event was held in April to coincide with the World Health Organization's 2010 open spaces-themed World Health Day, organizers said.

Pounding rain kept most of the crowds away, so the county decided to hold this year's event in May, said Eric Pawlowsky in the office of county Supervisor Carole Groom.

Although the public is "thrilled at the idea" of opening up the streets, officials don't know how many people to expect with the weekend's sunny forecast, Pawlowsky said.

"People love the idea of having a safe, car-free place to walk and to bike," he said.

Four new cities signed on this year to participate in the event, which is relatively inexpensive to stage because most of the services are donated and only existing infrastructure is used.

Pawlowsky said the county expects to continue holding Streets Alive on an annual basis, but officials hope the yearly gatherings will encourage individual cities to block their streets to cars more often.

The participating cities are Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Foster City, North Fair Oaks, Pacifica, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Mateo and South San Francisco.

Daly City and Millbrae held their events in April.

More information about the individual city routes is available at http://www.streetsalivesmc.org/.

--Bay City News