A South Pasadena city councilman has proposed closing a 10-mile stretch of Huntington Drive to automobiles for a day so that folks could walk, jog, bike and eat in the middle of the street to celebrate community and explore alternative modes of transportation.

The event would coincide with the opening of the Gold Line foothill extension and would connect the light-rail’s station in South Pasadena with new stations in Arcadia and Monrovia set to open in late 2015 or early 2016.

Called “SGV Golden Streets,” it is modeled after the successful Los Angeles car-free bicycle event, CicLAvia, which is in its third year and attracts hundreds of thousands of bicycle riders who’ve ridden down Olympic and Wilshire boulevards.

“We would close the street to cars as a San Gabriel Valley-wide Gold Line opening event at the same time,” said South Pasadena City Councilman Michael Cacciotti, who also sits on the governing board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Cacciotti received the endorsement of the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments Thursday and is pedaling the idea to all cities along the proposed route. The city of South Pasadena will submit a formal application to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) for funding from a $2 million Open Streets grant fund. The exact amount needed has not yet been determined.

SGV Golden Streets aims to introduce Valley residents to bicycling as well as other public transportation, such as the expanding light-rail system. The U-shaped Gold Line runs from East Los Angeles through Little Tokyo and downtown L.A. to Highland Park, South Pasadena and Pasadena. The $751 million, 11.5-mile foothill extension will continue the line from East Pasadena to the Azusa/Glendora border and is halfway complete.

The first Ciclovia took place in Bogata, Colombia, in 1974. Open Streets events have increased tenfold since 1996, according to the Alliance for Biking and Walking, a nonprofit that organizes bicycle riding and jogging events on city streets. San Jose, San Francisco, New York, Portland and Berkeley have recently held Open Streets events.

Jonathan Parfrey, executive director of Climate Resolve in Los Angeles and a co-founder of CicLAvia, said the events serve multiple purposes, everything from getting people to exercise to exposing residents to bicycling, buses and trains as alternatives to driving their cars.

“It is great to bring people out to get to know their neighbors and commute by bicycle and walking,” Parfrey said.

The SGV Golden Streets is just one of many proposals competing for a Metro Open Streets grant. The cities of Long Beach and Claremont are also submitting proposals.

“You get to see a place at 5-10 mph instead of a 50 mph,” said Claremont City Councilman Sam Pedroza. “A key part of a transportation system is being able to connect to homes. By biking or walking, active transportation will be the key part of the first and last mile.”

Aaron Paley, executive director of CicLAvia and co-founder and president of Community Arts Resources (CARS), said CicLAvia is working on six other grant proposals for future car-free events in Los Angeles County. These would include routes in Culver City, Watts, Echo Park, South L.A., the San Fernando Valley and Pasadena, he said.

Each application must be in by March 14, he said. Applicants could receive funding as early as July 1. They must hold the event within 24 months of receiving funding. Each route must pass within one-quarter mile of at least one Metro rail or Metrolink station.

The notion that streets are for people is a very powerful concept, said Janette Sadik-Khan of the New York City Department of Transportation in the documentary “The Rise of Open Streets.” Gabe Klein of the Chicago DOT said in the same film: “We default that the automobile is the only thing that can happen in the streets. If you look back to the last century, there weren’t any automobiles. It was people walking in the streets.”

Cacciotti said he’s working to get businesses on board. Some may feel that closing a street for a Sunday for seven hours may curtail revenue. But supporters say businesses can benefit.

A study from UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs found that Los Angeles businesses saw a 10 percent increase in sales during the June 2013 CicLAvia as compared to typical Sundays. And businesses that actively participated in the Open Streets initiative — with vending tables or signage — saw a 57 percent increase in sales.

Even churches got involved during last summer’s CicLAvia.

“We had choirs come out of churches on Wilshire Boulevard and sing to the bicyclists passing by. Instead of facing inward they faced outward,” Parfrey said.