Listen to an audio story by Annenberg Radio News

Cyclists will be taking to the streets on Sunday for CicLAvia, and this time they will have the chance to bike through South L.A. The new route will include Central Avenue, the Fashion District, and Exposition Park.

“There are many ways to describe CicLAvia. But I would say it’s the biggest block party there is….with bicycles.”

That was Eric Elcaras, a volunteer coordinator for CicLAvia. He’s glad to see that participation is not limited to cyclists

“ You probably have skates, rollerblades, probably have a dog you like to walk and now you can do it in a different way ‘cause now you’re going to be walking in the middle of the street. It’s turning the streets into a park. Anything you can do at the park, you can do in the streets now. “

In addition to contributing to the Los Angeles economy, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa believes that the event will highlight the city’s dependency on cars.

“This isn’t just about the economic impact, though we believe there is one. Look, we gotta get out of our single passenger automobile. This city is absolutely addicted to getting in their car and going two blocks to the market. We gotta get out of our car once in a while and we gotta promote that in this town.”

This is the third time CicLAvia will be held in the Los Angeles area. The last CicLAviaheld in April attracted an estimated one hundred thousand participants. The event originated over thirty years ago in Colombia in response to city congestion and pollution.