Car-free ‘Open Streets’ details announced

The “Open Streets” car-free event on the Green Street corridor on Sun., July 15, will feature a variety of activities and entertainment, along with parking and traffic restrictions.

Part of a new program called Circle the City, Open Streets will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Glen Road and Green, Myrtle and Pond streets between Franklin Park and Jamaica Pond Park. Those streets will be closed to motor vehicles so that people can “walk, bike, roll, skate or dance” in freedom.

The growing list of activities includes fitness, sports, arts and children’s entertainment events, along with food trucks and farmers market. Some highlights include a Jamaica Plain Historical Society walking tour; a bicycle tour from the JP-based Boston Cyclists Union; an exhibit of animals from the Museum of Science; and a tennis clinic.

For an updated activities list, see emeraldnecklace.org/circlethecity.

The Boston Police Department will close the streets to traffic and parking from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents of those streets can park their cars in the lots at 500 and 555 Amory St. during the event. Major intersections will remain open for cross-traffic, but side streets along the route also will be closed to traffic. Residents in the affected area are being sent a letter with details, and the area will be flyered as well.

Open Streets is part of Circle the City’s pilot program to encourage people to be physically active and to make them realize that local parks are within walking distance of each other.

Circle the City is a collaborative program based at the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and also including the City of Boston’s Boston Bikes Program; the Franklin Park Coalition; the Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness; the LiveableStreets Alliance; and the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy.

The program is headed by JP resident Jessica Parsons, who can be reached at [email protected].

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