City planning to alternate between east and west editions of Open Streets Windsor

As the City of Windsor celebrates the first east-end edition of its popular Open Streets event, officials say it likely won't be the last.

The 2024 edition took place Sunday and marked the first time Open Streets Windsor was held on an eight-kilometre route, between Windsor's Via Italia and Riverside neighbourhoods.

Going forward, Windsor's manager of events and tourism said the city is planning to have Open Streets Windsor alternate between the the west and east sides for years to come.

"We absolutely heard from the community, trying to find different ways that we can explore other neighbourhoods," said Michelle Staadegaard, manager of culture and events for the City of Windsor.

"This is a great way for us to work with Riverside, Pillette, Via Italia, as well as Ottawa and Ford City, on providing Open Streets in a new area."

The first Open Streets event took place in Windsor as a pilot project in 2016.

Since then, the eight kilometres of road closures have veered away from the far-east end of the city — encompassing areas near Sandwich Street, the University of Windsor, downtown Windsor and up to Ford City.

"So we actually are looking to do every other year now. Next year, in 2025, we'll be back out west through the downtown and Sandwich Street," said Staadegaard.

"Then, in 2026, we'll be back out east, which is really great."

Though the second east-end edition of Open Streets Windsor is two years away, Staadegaard said the city already has plans to make the 2026 event even better.

"We'll look at how this worked this year. We may have to make changes based on traffic and other things like that. But we're definitely looking at hosting this again in the east end," she added.