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Reclaiming Our Streets with Car Free Day

Cardiff will celebrate its biggest ever car-free day when the city centre will be closed to all traffic on Sunday, May 13th.

The HSBC City Ride will also take place on the same day to encourage families to come into Cardiff and enjoy a bike ride around a 5Km circuit on closed roads. In total 14 city centre roads will be closed off to traffic.

Councillor Caro Wild, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport, said: "We are still putting the finishing touches to what I believe will be a fantastic family day out, but right now we just want people to get the date in their diaries. So I'd ask everyone in the city to make a note for Sunday, May 13, when we hope to showcase how going car free for the day can benefit the city.

"There will be lots of activities and performances to enjoy and we are working with public transport providers so that people can get into and out of the city without using cars. Some activities have already been agreed, but we will be releasing further information on the exact line-up closer to the event.

"We do not want to exclude anyone from coming to the city centre, and are encouraging public transport providers to provide additional Sunday services and discounted tickets so we can make sure people have alternative ways to get into the centre"

A variety of family-friendly, on-street entertainment and activities are planned for Castle Street and North Road.

These include:

  • BMX stunt riders using a jump box
  • Live music and performances
  • Activities and games
  • A skateboard ramp
  • nextbikes and Peddle Power bikes
  • A climbing wall
  • A mountain biking track
  • Information on sustainable travel

Anyone interested in getting involved on the day - either supplying entertainment or helping out - can send enquiries tocarfreeday@cardiff.gov.uk

Riders who want to join the HSBC City Ride can register and find more information about it here -https://www.letsride.co.uk/events/cardiff

Cllr Wild, added: "Around 108,000 cars come into or out of the city centre over a typical 24-hour period, and at the moment only around 5,300 people choose to cycle over the same period. This Council is keen to change these statistics, we want to do everything we can to encourage sustainable forms of travel and we'd love to see 20% of Cardiff's workforce cycle into work by 2026. It would transform the way the city looks and feels. I would hope we can build on this event and bring several Car Free Days to the city every year. We want people to see for themselves just how much better the environment could be for everyone with less cars on our roads."

The Council will work with partners, including Public Health Wales, to monitor air quality in the city centre on the day, to better understand the contribution congestion and traffic flow makes to the air we breathe in the city centre.

The Council has launched a Green Paper on Clean Air in the city and is urging residents to take part in the conversationabout the big ideas that could shape the future of Cardiff's transport system and the way the city could look and feel in the future.

The Transport & Clean Air Green Paper is available to view on www.cardiff.gov.uk/transportgreenpaperand a series of questions have been asked in each section to get feedback from residents on the proposals and ideas before the consultation closes on 1st July.

How you can get involved - join the conversation by:

The bike ride circuit will start at King Edward V11 Avenue, onto Boulevard de Nantes, down North Road towards the City Centre, onto Duke Street, High Street, down St Mary Street to Walkabout, back up St Mary Street, onto Wood Street, up Castle Street, along Duke Street, up North Road to the junction with Colum Road, back down North Road, onto Corbett Road and then re-joining Kind Edward V11 Avenue.