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‘Slide the City’ wants to create a 1,000-foot water slide down steep Byrd St.

Posted at 4:17 PM, Jan 26, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-26 16:20:39-05

Experience the feel of gliding down Slide The City, an extra-long water slide on Ott Street in Allentown Saturday, August 15, 2015 RICHMOND, Va. – Warm weather lies ahead, and it isn’t too soon to start thinking about getting tickets to ride a 1,000-foot water slide down E. Byrd Street – if the event is approved this year.

The same Utah-based production company behind the popular Color Me Rad 5k runs hopes to bring “Slide the City” to Richmond on June 18, 2016.

The company puts down 1,000-feet of slick vinyl, which is divided into three lanes for people to slide down in tubes.

Participants bring their own tube or buy one on site. The entry fee, which is reduced by half if you get early bird pricing, starts at $10. Registration costs continue to climb until the day of the event, when it costs $20 for a single slide.

That price includes an entry wristband, a drawstring bag, and a mouth guard.

Last year the event was canceled in several states, including Virginia, as promoters ran into challenges selling enough tickets, or getting their permits. Some states questioned the water used for the event. Authorities questioned the source of the 6,000 to 9,000 gallons of recirculated water and how it will be treated, as well as its disposal.

The same production company behind the popular Color Me Rad 5k runs hopes to bring “Slide the City” to Richmond on June 18, 2016.

The same production company behind the popular Color Me Rad 5k runs hopes to bring “Slide the City” to Richmond on June 18, 2016.

There have also been several injuries across the country, according to reports from our sister station KSTU. In Pittsburgh another rider hit a girl and caused her to lose two teeth, KSTU reported.

Four people in Florida went to the hospital for broken bones and chest pain after crashing into other riders.

But organizers said they have made significant changes since those events in 2014, which should keep the riders safe.

That’s where the mouth guards enter the picture.

There are several options to ride: single slider, triple slider, and ultimate slider. For each package, you select a two-hour wave time in which you slide. You get there and wait for your chance to slide. If you get the triple slider ticket, you go three times during that wave.

Ticket prices run (with earlybird pricing as the low point) from $10 - $65, depending on the package bought.

That is, as long as all the permits are procured. Those riding must be 5 years old and 46 inches tall to ride.

We reached out to the company but have not heard back at time of posting. We will update with more information as we get it.

You can learn more here.

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