This mister in front of
Citybikes was very popular.
-Gallery/Slideshow below-
(Photos © J. Maus)

PBOT's carfree extravaganza, Sunday Parkways, made its fourth of five stops this month and Southeast Portland welcomed it with open arms. Thousands pedaled and walked along the six-mile route that stretched from SE 52nd in the shadows of Mt. Tabor to SE 16th near Colonel Summers Park in inner southeast.

Here are a few highlights from my trip around the loop.

Bike Temple continues to outdo themselves. They set up a pop-up bike church at SE 16th and Ankeny, complete with an upright organ, a pulpit, and a blessing wall. Buddha Bill, Pasture Ted, Deacon Amos, and other believers held two full sermons where people stopped, had their bikes blessed and listened to selected readings from the 2030 Bike Plan.
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Smiles for miles at East Portland Sunday Parkways.
-Slideshow below/Gallery-
(Photos © J. Maus)

The Portland Bureau of Transportation's Sunday Parkways event traveled to uncharted territory over the weekend with its first every foray into outer east neighborhoods. Thousands turned out to walk and bike on 4.5 miles of streets that were (mostly) closed to motor vehicle traffic. This was the third of five Parkways events PBOT is putting on this year.
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The woman behind Sunday Parkways,
Linda Ginenthal.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Everyone's getting excited about the Sunday Parkways event coming up in East Portland this weekend. Despite a change to the route due to a repaving project on the Springwater Corridor, it will still be an excellent opportunity to enjoy carfree streets and explore neighborhood parks with thousands of fellow Portlanders.

However, unlike previous Sunday Parkways events that rolled through areas where people on bikes are common, the East Portland edition reaches places where biking -- or the infrastructure that goes with it -- is not nearly as established. I'm curious how the event will look and feel in a part of our city not known as a cycling haven.

To learn more, I asked PBOT's Transportation Options Division program manager Linda Ginenthal (she's the big cheese behind the event) a few questions (emphasis mine): (more...)

Revised route map for East Portland Sunday Parkways.
(Download full PDF)

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Slideshow below
(Photos © J. Maus)

Huge crowds filled the streets to bask in the sun and the Sunday Parkways spirit yesterday. People walked and rolled on a seven-mile loop of carfree streets in North Portland that stretched from Piedmont, to the bluffs of Willamette Boulevard and north to Kenton Park.

It was the second of five Sunday Parkways the City of Portland has planned for this year (the next one is in East Portland on July 18th). Like we noted in our report on the Northeast edition last month, there were lots of kids and families out yesterday. (more...)

City is asking for help to fund
all five Sunday Parkways events
this year.
(Photos © J. Maus)

The second of five Sunday Parkways events happens this weekend and the City of Portland needs financial help from the community to keep them going.

A similar call for help went out last year when Sunday Parkways program manager Linda Ginenthal told us that "We know you don’t often receive requests like this from your City agencies. But Sunday Parkways isn’t business as usual." (more...)

Beth Hamon,
Sunday Parkways volunteer.
-Slideshow below-
(Photos © J. Maus)

OK Portland, it's time to step up and take care of a good friend in need. That good friend is Sunday Parkways, an absolute gem of an event that we are all very lucky to have.

Word from organizers is that the event is in need of a bunch more Superheroes (volunteers) to swoop in and make sure it remains a successful event. Put bluntly; without more community ownership -- both physical and financial -- Sunday Parkways could be in serious trouble.

I'll save the financial details for later, but what's urgently needed now are more Intersection Superheros. According to my friend Neal Armstrong with Good Sport Promotion (the company hired to manage the volunteer effort), they need a total of 200 Intersection Superheroes to monitor, direct, and divert traffic as well as chat with nearby residents to make sure they are cool with the event.
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Thousands enjoyed Sunday Parkways today.
- Gallery/Slideshow below-
(Photos © J. Maus)

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When streets are open for people, strange and wonderful things emerge -- like this fish bike spotted at Sunday Parkways in Southeast Portland in August 2009.
(Photo © J. Maus)

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Detail of Sunday Parkways route through Northwest Portland.
Download full size PDF here

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PBOT might have to look elsewhere
to pay for five Sunday Parkways this year.
(Photo © J. Maus)

[Hat tip to the Willamette Week]

The City's Financial Planning Division is recommending that the Bureau of Transportation scale back their planned five Sunday Parkways to just three, the same number held last year.

According to the City's budget office, the five events planned this year will cost a total of $475,000. PBOT put in a budget request in hopes that $217,000 of that amount could be paid through the City's General Fund. (more...)

Which part of the city should get the
September Sunday Parkways? Vote below.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Transportation Options Division within the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) recently announced the routes and dates of four of the five Sunday Parkways events planned for this summer.

The September edition of the event remains the "Mystery Sunday Parkways." PBOT has announced a date, but they've remained tight-lipped about further details. (more...)

As part of its 2010-2011 budget, The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation is requesting $642,000 from the General Fund. Of that money, they are seeking $217,000 for ongoing funding of their Sunday Parkways events.

That request is significant because it shows that PBOT feels Sunday Parkways -- which is expanding this year to five events -- is about more than just transportation.
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Can't wait!
(Photo © J. Maus)

The City of Portland has announced dates for four of their five Sunday Parkways events they'll host in 2010.

Here you go:

• May 16 - Northeast Sunday Parkways connecting Wilshire, Fernhill, Alberta, and Woodlawn Parks
• June 27 - North Sunday Parkways connecting Peninsula, Arbor Lodge, and Kenton Parks
• July 18 - East Portland Sunday Parkways connecting Lents and Ed Benedict Parks
• August 15 - Southeast Sunday Parkways - connecting Col. Summers, Laurelhurst, and Sunnyside Parks

No details yet on the fifth event. Stay tuned for that as well as route maps.

Catching a ride on a double-decker longtail tall bike.
(Photo by Greg Raisman)

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Oh, the things people will do when
they can play in the streets. Jumping
over a kiddie pool at SE 47th and Taylor.
-Slideshow below/Gallery-
(Photos © J. Maus)

Southeast Portland received the gift of Sunday Parkways today. And -- like they have in the previous two events this summer -- people turned out in droves to enjoy the perfect weather and serenity of carfree streets.

At Colonel Summers Park, kids flocked to the skills course put together by the Northwest Trail Alliance. Set up on a baseball diamond, the kids couldn't get enough of the teeter-totter and narrow, wooden tracks. (more...)

Like carfree streets filled with
pedal-powered music? Come out to
Sunday Parkways this weekend.
(Photo © J. Maus)

There's a lot of buzz around town for the City of Portland's third Sunday Parkways event this weekend. PBOT and scores of volunteers will create a nine-mile, people-powered festival through Southeast Portland that is sure to draw thousands to the streets. Adding to the fun this Sunday is a performance by the Ginger Ninjas, a bike-powered band led by Xtracycle co-founder Kipchoge Spencer.

The two-loop Sunday Parkways route will go through Buckman, Kerns, Laurelhurst, Richmond, and Sunnyside neibghborhoods. One of the loops is a relatively flat, and the other, more challenging one tackles Portland's famous urban volcano, Mt. Tabor.
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A cul-de-sac near Fernhill Park saw a lot of
action Sunday.
-Slideshow below/Gallery-
(Photos © J. Maus)

On Sunday, thousands of Portlanders got a chance to explore Northeast Portland in a way they've never done so before. From the gorgeous homes on the Alameda bluffs to the outskirts of the Alberta Arts district, they walked, jogged and biked like they owned the street (and for six hours, they did).

The second of three Sunday Parkways events planned by the Bureau of Transportation this year, the Northeast edition boasted nearly seven miles of carfree streets. Three parks (Alberta, Fernhill, and Wilshire) were connected via a steady stream of Portlanders of all shapes, sizes, and colors. (more...)

Map detail of Northeast Sunday Parkways event planned for this Sunday.

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It was a (car)free-for-all in
North Portland yesterday.
Slideshow below/Gallery
(Photos © J. Maus)

Sunday Parkways made a triumphant return to North Portland yesterday when thousands turned out to take advantage of 7.5 miles of carfree streets.

Amid bright, warm sunshine and periodic rain showers, they came out on roller skates, on foot, and by every type of bicycle imaginable. At three major parks -- Kenton, Arbor Lodge, and Peninsula -- live music blared, people of all ages twirled hula hoops, and local restaurants turned sidestreets into food courts. It was a day to meet your neighbors, to learn about local organizations and projects, to explore new places, and most importantly to have fun and get inspired. (more...)