Michael Drummond/Senior Staff

More than 40,000 Bay Area residents took to Shattuck Avenue on Sunday in celebration of Berkeley’s second Sunday Streets event.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Shattuck Avenue closed to cars and welcomed pedestrians and cyclists instead. Between Haste and Rose streets, participants could engage in a variety of activities, including live art and salsa dancing, as well as watch various performance groups.

“It’s about getting people to experience their urban environment in a totally different way and appreciate Berkeley in a new way,” said Sunday Streets Berkeley director Emunah Hauser.

The event is organized by Livable Berkeley, a coalition which strives to make Berkeley a more sustainable place, and a few partner organizations. According to Hauser, more than 150 organizations and activity leaders, including several UC Berkeley clubs and organizations, participated in Sunday Streets.

Sunday Streets drew people not only from Berkeley but from surrounding cities as well.

“It’s a really special feeling to have so much of a main street shut down,” said Oakland resident Tina Marie. “People look at each other differently. You’re taking people in.”

Because the street was closed off, several bus lines scheduled detours and added temporary stops near University Avenue and Oxford Street.

For Berkeley resident Michael Marchant, the absence of cars created a safer environment for his children.

“We look forward to any of these events where they block off streets to cars,” he said. “It makes it easier as a parent if you don’t have to worry about traffic.”

Hauser said this year’s Sunday Streets had a larger focus on transportation outreach than last year’s. Bay Area Bike Share allowed people to test bikes, and goBerkeley, a pilot program aiming to improve transportation in the city, asked for feedback from residents about public amenities.

To focus on physical activity and active transportation, Livable Berkeley does not invite street vendors to set up booths. Instead, many stores along Shattuck set up tables themselves, providing free samples or selling smaller store items.

Belli Osteria, a restaurant which does not normally open on Sundays, set up a pasta-making demonstration. Its co-owner Damien Morrison said Sunday Streets increased the restaurant’s exposure.

While some businesses had lines out the door, others saw a decrease in customers.

“There are plenty of distractions, so probably not as many people want to hang out in the comic book store,” said Mike Courtright, an employee at Fantastic Comics. While Courtright saw some new faces in the store, he saw fewer of his regular customers.

Sunday Streets, however, does not come without cost for the event’s organizers. Hauser estimates the event cost about $65,000 this year.

Although fundraising and private sponsorship cover a large part of this cost, Berkeley City Council pledged in January to provide Sunday Streets about $59,000 to split between 2013 and 2014.

Councilmember Kriss Worthington predicts the council will continue funding the event for subsequent years. Still, he feels the city’s contribution is a little high.

“It’s unfortunate that the other longtime community events don’t get more funding,” Worthington said. “This event gets as much as 20 other city events, so there’s a degree of unfairness.”

But for Councilmember Laurie Capitelli, Sunday Streets is “money well spent.”

“Everything shouldn’t be business,” Capitelli said. “Sometimes we should just celebrate as a community, and that’s important.”

Contact Tahmina Achekzai at tachekzai@dailycal.org.

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The victim has been identified as 32-year-old Berkeley resident Stephan Jarjisian, according to the Alameda County Coroner’s Office.

Officials from Berkeley Fire Department and Berkeley Police Department were dispatched to the scene around 3:10 p.m., according to a BPD press release. After being taken to Highland Hospital by paramedics, Jarjisian was pronounced dead around 3:55 p.m.

The BPD Fatal Accident Investigation Team closed the road later that evening to further investigate the cause of the accident.

“Obviously, in every death investigation, we want to make sure that we look at every detail of the investigation,” said BPD Public Information Officer Jennifer Coats. “We want to be as thorough as possible for any investigation but especially when it involves a death.”

The coroner’s office said the victim’s family has been notified.

The driver of the SUV cooperated during the investigation at the scene with police, and officials say they do not suspect any drugs or alcohol were involved in the accident.

“The officers did speak to some witnesses at the scene, but if there are any more out there, we ask that they please call us,” Coats said.

Police ask witnesses of the incident to call the Traffic Bureau at 510-981-5980 or the nonemergency police number at 510-981-5900.

Contact Gladys Rosario at grosario@dailycal.org.

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Katherine Chen/Staff

Berkeley community members took to the streets Sunday for an event that closed off 17 blocks of Shattuck Avenue for pedestrian and bicyclist usage.

Thousands of citizens attended Sunday Streets Berkeley — an event that emphasizes open space and community engagement — to explore the streets and businesses on Shattuck.

“There are no vendors,” said Livable Berkeley Executive Director Erin Rhoades, the main organizer of the event. “It’s not a street festival … the streets are open for the community and local organizations to participate. At the heart of it, it’s really about physical activity, and biking and walking more than you (normally) would in your city.”

The event was modeled after the similarly-themed Sunday Streets San Francisco, now in its fifth year. Both were inspired by the Open Streets movement, which encourages bicycle and pedestrian traffic and community use of public space.

The event — which spanned between Rose and Haste streets — was organized by Livable Berkeley in collaboration with community organizations and the city. The Ecology Center and the East Bay Bicycle Coalition were also sponsors of the event.

Councilmember Jesse Arreguin, whose district encompasses the main area taken over by Sunday Streets, said there were negotiations with neighbors and business owners about shutting down traffic on Shattuck. For the event, bus service in the Downtown area was rerouted.

“At first there was a general concern about closing most of Shattuck Avenue,” Arreguin said. “But I think part of what was done is explaining to these businesses the exciting plans for this event and how successful it has been in other cities.”

Brazil Cafe owner Pedro Robin placed tables on the street and opened his restaurant’s doors for the event, though the store usually remains closed on Sundays.

“I love the whole community, the music,” Robin said. “I hope there’s one (Sunday Streets) per month.”

Sunday Streets is just one in a series of Berkeley events that fills the streets with pedestrians at points throughout the year. The Solano Stroll took over 26 blocks in Albany and Berkeley in early September, and LastSundaysFest last closed off Telegraph Avenue in August.

“The wonderful thing about Sunday Streets versus street fairs is that it’s all about the existing merchants coming out onto sidewalks and being engaged with the communities,” said John Caner, CEO of the Downtown Berkeley Association.

Livable Berkeley and other organizers are already discussing the next steps for the Sunday Streets Berkeley movement, including when it will come to the city next.

“Hopefully this is just the beginning,” said Joe DiStefano, vice chair of the Livable Berkeley Board of Directors. “The most common question I’ve gotten is, ‘Is this going to happen again?’”

Contact Libby Rainey at lrainey@dailycal.org.

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