(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)
This fall, Northeast Portland will host a new experiment in humanizing streets: the city will open a one-day route from 42nd Avenue and Alberta to NE Cully Boulevard and Killingsworth just for walking.
“We want to give Portlanders a chance to see and experience their streets in a new way,” said Inna Levin, volunteer and outreach coordinator for the nonprofit advocacy group Oregon Walks, in a news release Tuesday. “We hope Cully Camina will be the start of something bigger, inspiring more people to walk and engage in their community.”
The free event is Sunday, Sept. 18, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Since there’s no Sunday Parkways scheduled in September this year (the fifth and final open streets event, Sellwood-Milwaukie Sunday Parkways, is set for Oct. 2) the new Cully event will in a sense be a sixth Sunday Parkways.
Oregon Walks is the main organizer of the event. It’s hoping to make this the first of a series called “Oregon Walkways,” which would take place once or twice per year “in different neighborhoods across the region.”
People rolling through on wheelchairs and similar mobility devices will be welcome, too.
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Lead sponsors include the Metro regional government and the City of Portland. The organizations Living Cully, Verde, Hacienda CDC, Our 42nd Ave, Andando en Bicicleta en Cully and City Repair have signed on as partners.
“Portlanders love to embrace their streets as public, community space,” said Linda Ginenthal, who manages Sunday Parkways for the Portland Bureau of Transportation, in the news release.
“This partnership with Oregon Walks is an exciting opportunity to showcase our businesses and organizations, and to get folks interested in becoming a more pedestrian-friendly, neighborhood-serving commercial district,” added Laura Waddick, the community engagement manager at Our 42nd Ave, an organization with a mission to create a “welcoming, safe, walkable and eco-friendly commercial district” on Northeast 42nd.
You can RSVP and receive updates on Cully Camina on its Facebook event page.
— Michael Andersen, (503) 333-7824 – michael@bikeportland.org
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Nice. How about a walkways for somewhere on the westside of the Willamette River?
Does the connect the park blocks project from oregon walks and betterblock count?
True, but I was thinking of a Sunday Parkways-like event.
We will be co-leading Oregon Walkways: Connect the Park Blocks on August 20th with Better Block this year, and are excited to do more Oregon Walkways events in future years in more neighborhoods around the city and state! More info on Connect the Park Blocks soon.
This is a terrific idea! Will there be bike parking available so that people can bike to the event?
Absolutely! We are hoping for bike parking at each of the three hubs. In fact, we are looking for a bike parking sponsor – please get in touch if you own or can sponsor the cost of bike parking equipment!! Send info to noel@oregonwalks.org
Alberta Ct/Alberta St is the east end of the NE Going Greenway. What are the detour plans if the street is closed to cyclists?
The streets will only be closed to cars. We will just encourage people riding bikes to ride at the speed of the event (the speed of walking), or park their bikes if they are enjoying the event.
Any report about the Cully Safe Streets meeting last week?
Looking forward. Kudos to Oregon Walks for organizing this event!