It was just something that Wichita Park & Recreation Director Troy Houtman wanted to try, an idea he’d seen presented at a conference.
So last September, not knowing how it would work out in Wichita, he and his crew closed down four miles of Wichita’s main downtown thoroughfare, filled it with food trucks and entertainment and invited Wichitans to ride their bikes over to enjoy it.
He wasn’t sure anyone would come. But they did — by the thousands. By the end of the event, organizers Wichita Park & Recreation and the Wichita Park Foundation estimated, 18,000 people had biked or walked through the first Open Streets ICT event, and many had stopped to eat, dance, play basketball, hula hoop and toss Frisbees while they were there.
“It was a tremendous success,” said Matthew Martinez, the assistant recreation supervisor for the park department. “It was exactly what we wanted to see — so many people on their bikes. We did not realize how many people in Wichita had bikes. It was amazing and so much fun.”
People loved the event so much, Martinez said, that many told organizers they should put on an Open Streets event twice a year. Organizers are considering it, but in the meantime, they’ve put together another one.
(Read more: Wichita Eagle)