(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Grab your friends and kids and neighbors — it’s time for Sunday Parkways! The ninth annual season starts this Sunday (May 15th) in outer southeast Portland.
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From 11:00 am to 4:00 pm you can enjoy a seven-mile loop that’s nearly carfree and full of activities, music, food, and fun! As an added bonus this year Sunday Parkways has connected with Portland Parks & Recreation’s New Portlanders Cultural Celebration & Family Day. This event will help welcome immigrants and refugees to Portland with “culturally specific” recreational activities. Up to 500 families are expected to take part.
Let’s show these new Portlanders how we roll!
Also sure to add an element of excitement to Sunday’s event is the looming election. The top candidates for Portland Mayor — Jules Bailey, Sarah Iannarone, David Schor and Ted Wheeler — have told us they’ll be at the event. Iannarone is leading a ride that meets at 12:00 pm on the corner of 88th and Steele. With a recent poll showing nearly 40 percent of Portlanders still undecided less than one week before ballots are due, Sunday Parkways could be a key campaign event.
If you live in the area you’ll get to experience the streets in a whole new way. If you don’t ride in outer southeast very much, this is a great opportunity to learn more about the area. The route will highlight beautiful natural areas and parks.
Of particular note will be a functioning BIKETOWN bike share station that will be located at Lents Park. We’re just about two months before the system launches and you can be the first of your friends to do a preview ride!
For more info check out PortlandSundayParkways.org.
— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org
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I’m going to camp out on the Springwater the night before so I can be the first one on the route!
You’ll have lots of company!
http://www.kgw.com/news/local/sunday-parkways-headed-for-springwater-corridor-following-homeless-sweep/178129306
Jury is out on:
1. how effective this will be;
2. for whom it will be effective;
3. it sweeps will be followed up by more positively meaningful steps to help people get off the streets
I have mixed feelings about this.
I’m surprised that the city chose to use the Springwater trail again, given how much of a bottleneck it was last year.
I’m surprised the city didn’t consult you on how to make it better.
Maybe they should. 😉
This is bad politically for the City. To the homeless and the non-gentrified old-school residents this is just further proof the City doesn’t care about poor people. This will not promote cycling among the disenfranchised, it will harbor resentment. It will perpetuate the idea the bicycle are toys for the rich.
Why?
because the aggressive ‘clean-up’ is only for one of PP&R’s showcase events and only in the exact location on the event. Problems in the area go back decades.
So apparently the city should do nothing?
“Poor” people cannot enjoy free events put on by the city?
What exactly are you ranting about?
when you mention “clean-up” I’m assuming you mean the clearing of campers from the Springwater per the above link from Beth H… however, they cleaned up a spot that’s not part of Sunday Parkways… the part that Sunday Parkways runs through has not been cleaned of campers as far as I know… so participating people will see real-world conditions…
Let’s all hula-hoop and eat organic sno-cones! Let’s ignore the underlying problems. Let’s use scarce resources to push the campers to another place for awhile so we can have a party! Go Team!
Foe a minute I thought you had something productive to say…..
And let’s complain about the lack of money for bike infrastructure while we burn money playing police sweep whack-a-mole.
I don’t feel safe using the Springwater corridor unless I am with a group. I used to ride it to work regularly; now I don’t.
If the police ignore the existence of illegal and threatening behaviors along the Springwater corridor or anywhere else, it effectively becomes a facility that I and others will not feel comfortable using.
We might as well not build the facilities. I guess that solves the problem of not enough money for bicycle infrastructure. Don’t build it and no one will come.
We don’t need money for bike infrastructure, just get rid of the cars.
Did any of these things happen last year when Sunday Parkways went along this same route?
My first Sundays Parkways! Looking forward to it and bringing my two riding buddies of very mixed riding abilities. All three of us have overcome homelessness, and other lively experiences and now use bikes as tools to help balance ourselves.
This ride looks like it will have a mix of everything, plus an easy ride to downtown after (meandering on the streets not the spring water)
Little dude in the photo’s helmet is installed completely wrong.. hope there will be education on correct helmet usage at the event!
And by “dude” I did not mean to imply a gender. 😉
Dude… now that’s a name no one would self-apply where I come from.
I don’t know how I’ll feel seeing a functioning Biketown station in Lents Park but knowing the real thing won’t exist east of Cesar Chavez Blvd.
Most cities with bike share systems are expanding their service areas and fleets very quickly. Biketown with the smart bike/dumb station structure will make expansion fast and cheap compared to all the other existing systems in the US. I suspect within 5 years, service will include most the east side (commercial corridors to the Gateway/I-205) all of North Portland.
Don’t kid yourself, Biketown is a game changer.
I rode thru the area where SundayParkways is going to run today. They had one CoP guy filling a pickup with garbage. it was piled pretty high.
I guess cleaning it up 1 day out of 365 is better than zero of 365 ? He was only picking up exactly where the event runs.
the tents near 205 overpass are multiplying quickly. curiously, many of the tents look brand new and not cheap. many 9×12 and bigger. Is some agency donating tents ?
down lower, just west of Bell, the grass along the path is cut and looks good. I’d always applauded the authorities for doing this, until last week, when I stopped and talked to a citizen who does it on his own. Said he couldn’t stand the overgrowth and needs the exercise and so mows it on his time/gas/machine.
Still piles of bike parts outside some of the tents. 🙁
>>Now some campers are showing up near Foster Road, on the section of trail that will be used by thousand of cyclists and walkers during this weekend’s Parkways event.
>>The Portland Bureau of Transportation organizes the event, and the people in charge say they are well aware of the surprise that may be in store for Parkway participants and homeless campers.
http://katu.com/news/local/sunday-parkways-ready-for-homeless-trail
>>KATU found around a half-dozen campers on each side of Foster Road.
KATU needs a remedial math class 🙁 (or new glasses) 🙁
Um. Okay. So PBOT is aware of “the surprises” that await folks walking and riding the Springwater on Sunday?
Has anyone from PBOT responded to outline in any detail how they might handle ossible tensions that arise? Just curious.
I rode thru there today and counted 43 tents just East of Foster . West is harder to count as they’ve seemed to have learned from Br’er Rabbit and have tents in or behind the blackberry thickets.
At 83rd & Springwater there was a group of 6 just standing there blocking the path with just a small hole for me and 2 women to get thru. As I approached, one guy (who didn’t look) started to walk and block off that hole.
I loudly broadcast “BIKES COMING” and he stopped. After passing them, of course to my back I hear “JERKS” (+worse)
They sure know how to drum up support for themselves. That area is getting re-colonized now.
Should be interesting to see Sundays Parkways mix with the Mountain bikes pulling trailers.
think Charlie has the guts to show up ?
WOW .. no BP coverage. did it even happen ?
Yeah, why no coverage on BP? Is there some kind of political thing going on?
I took Max out to Lents and rode the whole route, albeit a bit late because of some scheduling problems. It was cold and wet, and by the time I finished all the vendors had cleared out. I was able to see a LOT of campers on the Springwater trail, and was passed by two police officers on atv’s. Nobody bothered me.
But I want to hear from others who braved the ride on that dreary day!
Umm you guys… BP is 1.5 people. Michael is a half-time contractor and I am the other person on staff and I’m also in charge of trying to make this a real business that supports itself.
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