– Watch slideshow below –
(Photo © J. Maus)
The City of Portland brought Sunday Parkways to the west side of the river for the first time ever on Sunday. Rain and drizzle fell for the first hour or so, but dry skies prevailed and a healthy crowd enjoyed a carfree loop through the Pearl District and downtown.
These little tykes were tearing up the bike skills park set up by Northwest Trail Alliance.
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Future pedestrian mall?
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At the outset of the event, the Portland Police closed down part of the route for a homicide investigation (a shooting occurred early Sunday morning), but eventually the route was re-opened with SW 4th being used instead of Naito.
Sunday Parkways.
My crew and I made our first stop at Couch Park, where the kids filled up on Clif bars and jumped in a rocket ship bouncy thingy. We then pedaled up to Wallace Park, which was set up with the Northwest Trail Alliance bike skills area, soccer games, hula-hoops, a climbing wall, and more. We could have stayed there all day, but we also wanted to explore more of the loop. So on we went to NW 13th, which was the busiest street on the route.
13th goes through a former industrial area that is now full of shops and cafes. Seeing it full of people walking and biking was very inspiring and made me wonder why we can’t make this street carfree permanently. Seriously. 13th north of Burnside would make a fantastic pedestrian mall.
Besides 13th, the crowds were definitely not as thick as previous Parkways events. This had something to do with the early morning rain showers, but the route itself also wasn’t nearly as densely populated as others. The loop on Stark and Couch streets was downright empty in some stretches when I rolled down it.
Even without the throngs of Parkways past, the streets were still filled with lots of smiles and spirit. Here are a few examples…
Ben “Sauce” Applebaum (a.k.a. “Gaydolf Shitler”) rocked out on his keyboard at the North Park Blocks as part of the Tall Tour…
Portland Pedal Power founder Ken Weatherell showed off the new shelves on his delivery bikes. Thanks for the excellent chips and salsa Ken!…
PBOT employee Timo Forsberg (L) and Esther Harlow (R) get a lift from Splendid Cycles owner Joel Grover (L) and his wife Barb on a stylin’ pair of cargo bikes…
Fresh off riding all of Cycle Oregon on his fully operational coffee cart bike, Charlie Wicker of Trailhead Coffee Roasters pours free drinks at Wallace Park…
Waterfront Bikes employee Joe Flanagan rode the shop bike (a custom Metrofiets) around delivering free water, snacks, and air…
Huge thanks to PBOT and all the volunteers (a.k.a. Intersection Superheroes) for making this event happen. We’re already looking forward to next year!
For more faces and scenes from Sunday Parkways Northwest, watch the slideshow below…
— Relive your Sunday Parkways memories by browsing our previous coverage.