Walking in Sunshine: Sunday Streets Comes to North Gessner

Tossing a football on North Gessner near Kempwood during Sunday Streets.

What if you took a city street – a major north-south artery – and closed part of it down for a few hours so people could enjoy that street without vehicular traffic?

North Gessner from Kempwood south to Tiger Trail was closed on a brilliant Sunday afternoon, April 23, from noon-4 p.m., and neighborhoods responded.

Jessica Lopez (left) and Becky Marr of Buffalo Creek Elementary at Sunday Streets on April 23. The pair were selling water to raise money for the school’s health and fitness programs.

An estimated 6,000 participants from the Spring Branch community gathered in the closed-off street to walk, bicycle, skateboard, roller skate, toss around a football and a host of other activities, unimpeded by motorized vehicles.

Cigna Sunday Streets, an initiative of the city of Houston, promotes healthy lifestyles by closing a Houston street each month to motorized traffic, “allowing Houstonians to cycle, walk, run, dance and socialize in the street,” according to gohealthyhouston.com.

SBISD’s Health/Fitness and Wellness department was instrumental in bringing Sunday Streets to the district. Advanced Movers Coordinator Samuel Karns said that the district’s #MoralCompass showed the way while #CollaborativeSpirit and #CollectiveGreatness made it happen.

“Much of the feedback from parents was that we should do this every month,” Karns said. He said he looks forward to bringing Sunday Streets back to Spring Branch as soon as possible.

Superintendent Dr. Scott Muri attended Sunday Streets and said at the Monday, April 24, board meeting that he saw lots of SBISD students, teachers and administrators there, helping educate folks about healthy living options.

“It was a good day for Spring Branch and the city of Houston,” he said, “and a good day to celebrate.”