Big crowds flocked to carfree streets in Multnomah Village for Sunday Parkways on September 11th, 2023. (Jonathan Maus – BikePortland)
The City of Portland will put on three Sunday Parkways events this year. The Portland Bureau of Transportation announced the dates and location last Friday.
The events will be held in east Portland on May 19th, the Cully neighborhood on June 16th and in southwest on September 22nd. For the uninitiated, Sunday Parkways are open streets events that began in 2008. We were inspired by the Ciclovias in Bogota and were one of the first cities in North America to launch such an ambitious event. That first year we had just one event and it was a massive hit. PBOT expanded it to three Sundays in 2009 and by 2010 we were doing five events per year — including a route in northwest.
PBOT organized five Sunday Parkways events each year through 2019. Then we skipped two years due to the pandemic and returned with just two events in 2022. We’ve had three events per year since.
Finding funding for Sunday Parkways is a perennial issue. PBOT has had to hold donation drives and plead with City Council to keep it funded. Currently, the events are made possible thanks to grants from Kaiser Permanente and other sponsors. The Portland Clean Energy Fund has also provided a lifeline for the program as Sunday Parkways was part of a $112 million injection into PBOT announced back in December (but still not finalized).
Check out more details (via PBOT) about each of this year’s three events below…
The East Portland 3.3-mile down-and-back route will feature Gateway Discovery Park, Ventura Park, and Lincoln Park. More details here.
The Northeast Cully 6.2-mile looped route rises significantly as one travels from north to south stopping along the way at Fernhill Park, Kʰunamokwst Park, Wellington Park, and Roseway Parkway. More details here.
The Southwest Portland route will feature a 2-mile multi-modal route along with a separate 1.5-mile walking route. Start anywhere on either route and bike, walk, or roll as you explore the four featured stops. More details here.
Here’s to another great Sunday Parkways season! I just wish we could figure out a way to spread the love and have them in more parts of the city more often. A measly 15 hours of carfree streets per year after 16 years of success just doesn’t seem right.
