Nearly a mile of Howell Mill Road will go car-free this Sunday as the fourth annual Westside Stride block party takes over Atlanta's Upper Westside from noon to 6 p.m. The free, family-friendly event will fill the street between Eighth and 17th streets with live music, DJ sets, a pop-up maker's market, local food and an artist and vendor market, turning a usually traffic-heavy corridor into a pedestrian playground for the day.
According to CBS Atlanta, the event closes nearly one mile of Howell Mill Road to cars and opens the road to people walking and biking, rain or shine. Adeline Collot, capital projects and programming director for the Upper Westside Community Improvement District, told the station the day is meant to recognize local businesses, food and beverage spots, retailers, and the need for safe infrastructure in the corridor. Collot said the event also helps nearby and local residents discover Upper Westside retailers and restaurants they might not otherwise stumble upon.
The block party is organized by the Upper Westside Improvement District in partnership with Atlanta Streets Alive and the Atlanta Department of Transportation, according to SaportaReport. The outlet notes this marks the first time Howell Mill Road has been included in an Atlanta Streets Alive event since 2019, a notable return for a corridor that has seen years of residential growth. SaportaReport reports more than 1,100 apartments and townhomes have delivered in the Howell Mill blocks between 14th and 10th streets alone since 2018, with more development still planned.
Road Closures and Transit Detours
Howell Mill Road between 17th Street and Eighth Street is scheduled to close at 8 a.m. on event day, per the Westside Stride event page. That same page lists detours for MARTA bus routes 12 and 14 during the closure, including a route 12 northbound detour to the Cumberland Transfer Center. Atlanta Streets Alive describes the setup as a car-free afternoon along Howell Mill Road between Eighth and 17th streets, with a Third Street closure creating a car-free connection to Tech Parkway, according to the Atlanta Streets Alive event listing.
Collot biked from Midtown down 14th Street on a protected cycle track to reach the event area, CBS Atlanta reported, and pointed to new bike lanes and new medians along Howell Mill Road as well as a new protected cycle track on West Marietta as signs of the corridor's changing infrastructure. Those additions are tied to the broader Howell Mill Complete Street project, a roughly $21 million effort that includes resurfacing, raised bike lanes and sidewalk work along about two and a half miles of the road, according to Urbanize Atlanta. The outlet reports the project's target completion is winter 2026, pending weather delays.
A Growing Tradition on Atlanta's Streets
Westside Stride's organizers are betting on a formula that has drawn big crowds citywide before. Atlanta Streets Alive organizers estimate their events over the decade following 2010 drew roughly 1.7 million people across 29 events and about 83 miles of city streets, per Urbanize Atlanta's coverage of the group's 2026 plans, which include a record eight Atlanta Streets Alive events this year. A prior Westside Stride, described at the time as the Upper Westside CID's second annual event, was expected to draw more than 20,000 people, according to FOX 5 Atlanta, though that figure was tied to an earlier edition of the event rather than Sunday's.
The push for safer streets around Howell Mill fits into a wider pattern of active-transportation investment on Atlanta's Upper Westside. The Upper Westside CID and PATH Foundation have also been developing a 0.75-mile Westside Paper Spur Trail, a $2.9 million project intended to connect the Upper Westside with the Westside BeltLine Connector, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting. Together with the Complete Street overhaul, organizers are framing Sunday's block party as both a celebration and a showcase for a neighborhood rebuilding itself around walking and biking rather than cars.
