Dancing in the streets

There’s a new open streets event taking place in downtown Peterborough this summer called “Peterborough Pulse”.

The event — which takes place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 18th — will see sections of George Street, Crescent Street, and Lock Street temporarily closed to motor vehicles.

Instead of cars, the streets will be filled with families pushing strollers, dog-walkers, cyclists, and roller skaters. There’ll be sidewalk sales, community activities, public art, and more.

“This is going to be a great community event that will showcase our downtown,” says Terry Gueil, Executive Director of the Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA). “We’re bringing together our great selection of shops and a variety of community groups with interests ranging from cycling to arts to health, all in beautiful downtown Peterborough.”

Peterborough Pulse is the first Open Streets event to take place in Peterborough. Open Streets is a global initiative to make cities more livable by temporarily closing streets to automobile traffic for walking, dancing, playing, and socializing. There are over 100 initiatives in North America, including Hamilton, Toronto, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco (for more information on Open Streets, visit openstreetsproject.org).

“Open street events provide an exciting and fun way to increase the health of our community,” says Dr. Rosana Pellizzari, Medical Officer of Health with the Peterborough County-City Health Unit. “There are so many proven health benefits to getting people outside and physically active, including improved levels of fitness, strength and mental health and the reduced risk of chronic diseases.”

Peterborough Pulse will provide a car-free connection between Peterborough’s downtown and the Peterborough Farmers’ Market at the Peterborough Memorial Centre. The Pulse route will follow George Street North from McDonnel Street to King Street, where it will move to the Otonabee River Trail to Lake Street, and then continue along Crescent and Lock streets to Lansdowne Street West. No motor vehicle traffic will be able to access the route during the event.

“Pulse will create a fun and safe way for people of all ages to walk, bike, skateboard or in-line skate between downtown and the market,” says Sue Sauve, Transportation Demand Management Planner with of the City of Peterborough.

Peterborough Pulse builds on the momentum gained during May with Community Shifting Gears, making it easy for people to walk or bike for transportation and recreation.

The event is being sponsored by Peterborough Transit, Shimano, and LLF Lawyers. Partners include B!KE – Peterborough Community BIke Shop, the City of Peterborough, Community Shifting Gears, DBIA, Green UP, the Peterborough Bicycle Advisory Committee, and the Peterborough County-City Health Unit.

For more information about Peterborough Pulse, visit www.ptbopulse.com, visit the Peterborough Pulse Facebook page, or follow @ptbopulse on Twitter.

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