Grant Avenue in Norwood will be closed to traffic on 29 October to promote a car-free Sunday

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Grant Avenue to be car-free zone Sunday will be car-free day along Norwood's popular Grant Avenue. Restaurants will set up tables in the street and people are invited to celebrate Public Transport Month. October 27, 2006 By Ndaba Dlamini GRANT Avenue, the Norwood street much favoured by Joburg's party set, will be closed to traffic on Sunday, 29 October as the northern suburb's contribution to Public Transport Month. The road will be closed between Ivy Road and Iris Road, from 9am to 5pm, says Marcelle Ravid, the councillor for Ward 73 and the Democratic Alliance's Joburg spokesperson for transport. "The City of Johannesburg's Public Transport Month committee asked each ward councillor in the city to do something in their suburbs and I thought it would be a great idea to close off Grant Avenue." Restaurants and businesses are being encouraged to place chairs, tables and umbrellas in the road for the duration of the day and one shop has promised to put up a jumping castle for children. Ravid says car-free Sundays have been successfully implemented in many cities worldwide with resultant improved air quality, reduced congestion and increased awareness of all forms of transport and pedestrian rights. She adds that the suburb is looking forward to a heightened awareness of Norwood's uniqueness and a wonderful sense of community on the day. "This is also an excellent way of informing people of the hard work going on behind the scenes for the improvement of Grant Avenue when it becomes a City Improvement District, and is run by a management company." Necessary permission has been obtained for the road closure from the Johannesburg metropolitan police department by the City's transport department, Ravid confirms. "We hope to make this an annual event and the response from the public and businesses has been very positive," she concludes. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za