Car-Free Streets in Rio: How Residents Get Theirs Closed on Sundays
Rio de Janeiro's Área de Lazer programme closes streets to cars on Sundays and public holidays, from 7am to 6pm. Residents can apply to have their own street added. The city wants signatures from two-thirds of the households, plus written approval from the local Military Police battalion. The post Car-Free Streets in Rio: How Residents Get Theirs Closed on Sundays appeared first on The Rio Times .
Rio offers residents a car-free street programme that closes select streets to traffic every Sunday. The initiative, known as Área de Lazer, allows any street to apply and is run by CET-Rio, the city's traffic authority. Streets participating in the programme close from 7am to 6pm on Sundays, with the standard window expanding to 7pm during summer due to longer days.
To join the program, residents must collect signatures from at least two thirds of the residential units on the street, submit a written justification, and receive approval from the local Military Police battalion. The programme covers various coastal and inland streets, providing residents with quieter streets for walking, biking, and other leisure activities.
Notable sections include the beachfront avenues in Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leblon, as well as the Aterro do Flamengo in Leblon. While there are no official studies on the programme's effectiveness, residents find it beneficial for accessing green spaces and avoiding vehicle traffic. Car-free streets in Rio are temporary, marked with temporary barriers and signage, and do not impact residents' access to their own garages.
Written by urgent.news from The Rio Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
