Plans For Collier County’s First ‘Ciclovia’ Are In Motion

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If all goes as planned, residents in Collier County, FL may soon experience their first ever Ciclovia/ open streets event.

The date for the first event is scheduled for February 7, 2015, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. However, organizers already have plans for additional events to be held during the first Saturday of March, April, September, October and November, according to a Naples Daily news story.

At the moment, organizers are waiting to get the permits they need to temporarily close down streets like Washington Avenue, Glades and Escambia, where the event would take place.

While the idea for hosting a ciclovia originally came from staff at the University of Florida’s family nutrition program, planning for the event has really been a community effort. Groups like the Collier County Parks and Recreation, the Immokalee Chamber of Commerce, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Immokalee Housing and Family Services, and the Immokalee Community Redevelopment Agency have all had a hand in bringing forth resources and ideas for Collier County’s first ever Ciclovia.

To hear what the community had to say about hosting a ciclovia, Dr. Javier Rosado, clinical training director for psychology at Florida State University and former Salud America! grantee, conducted a survey. He found that 80% of those who took the survey, were in favor of the ciclovia and that most respondents were interested in seeing the event take place on Saturday mornings rather than Sunday.

Some of the top activities that respondents said they would like to see include: walking, biking, running, Zumba, soccer, jogging, yoga and buying fruit.

Read more about this change here.