"the city boots vehicles from several major thoroughfares"

What would you do if seven miles of city streets stretched out before you and there wasn't a car in sight?

Hop on your bicycle? Drop into a yoga pose? Samba? Salsa? Sing?

These are the sorts of choices Angelenos will have Sunday, when the city boots vehicles from several major thoroughfares and urges its citizens to come out and play.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., portions of a dozen streets will be closed to car traffic on a zigzagging route that extends from East Hollywood through Westlake and into downtown and Boyle Heights.

In this car-centric metropolis, where drivers spend an average of 72 hours stuck in traffic annually and jaywalkers are heavily fined, CicLAvia, as the event is known, is something of a marvel.

It is designed to challenge the idea — so ingrained in the city's psyche — that automobiles rule the road.