(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The Portland Bureau of Transportation has fittingly used the day of love to unveil the 2019 Sunday Parkways season.
As per usual, there will be five events this year and the routes will touch every quadrant except the southwest hills.
As for any new offerings this year, PBOT says they’ll have a stronger focus on walking. They’ve planned a series of walks inspired by the Parks for New Portlanders that partner with local organizations and community leaders. There will be special walking routes at four of the five events.
Here are the routes and details for this year’s events (Green Loop route not released yet):
Southeast – May 19th
Are you ready for the first event of the year?! Yes, we hear you. We are too! See you in May as we cruise along inner Southeast Portland to enjoy a delicious dose of summer time magic. This route will explore the neighborhood greenways of Ankeny, Clinton, Lincoln, Salmon, Taylor streets and more. While you’re at it, don’t forget to dance, grab a bite to eat and learn something new.
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North – June 30th
Don’t forget to bring some gold with you to this event! Just kidding, but we will be celebrating our 50th Sunday Parkways ride. This year, the June event will take place at the last Sunday of the month and will take you through a charming 9.5 mile double loop course. Every Body Rides will return and will be located at Arbor Lodge Park adjacent to the universally accessible Harper’s Playgound.
Outer Northeast – July 21st
The Outer Northeast (ONE) event has been moved to July! Yippee!! And on top of that, we have made this a shorter route, making it easier for families and friends to either bike or walk it. The third year on this route, we have even more fun for you! 2019 marks the return to Hazelwood Hydro Park and allows us to debut a new park brimming with trees – John Luby Park.
Green Loop – August 25th
We will return to the historic North Park Blocks, a green oasis downtown along with other engaging downtown and inner eastside gems for our August route. This route inspired by the Green Loop presents a bold new concept featured in the Central City 2035 Plan that envisions a linear park connecting nearly a dozen districts. This linear park will stop by countless cultural hot spots like the Portland Art Museum, North Blocks and the Rose Quarter. It’ll be a playground for all ages.
Northeast – September 22nd
All good parties must come to an end, but we intend to have fun up until the end! That’s why we will end the year with an exploration of the Northeast neighborhood greenways on this 8-mile loop. While sweeping by on your wheels or heels, make sure to enjoy the walking/biking boulevard of Ainsworth along with the neighborhood greenways of Going street, Holman street and Alberta Court. It’s the final event of the season, you won’t want to miss it!
Stay updated by following Sunday Parkways on Facebook and Twitter.
UPDATE: A commenter pointed out that Milwaukie is doing their own “Car(e)free Sunday” event this year on August 4th. Get down there and check it out!
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Given Portland’s growth and prosperity, as well as the overall popularity of these events, why does the city still limit itself to only 5 Sunday Parkways events per year, using the same routes for the past decade? Shouldn’t they would be capable of far more by now, including in the southwest?
IMO, the city ought to eliminate its traffic enforcement budget, which people on this blog say is never used anyway, and use it towards more parkway events.
Sunday Parkways is basically run by volunteers, lots and lots and lots of volunteers. Literally hundreds of volunteers for every event day. It is a struggle for the city to get enough folks to volunteer to even have the current number of Sunday parkways happen.
I would encourage you to volunteer at the parkways to get a peek behind the scenes on how much work goes into it. You can find more info here https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/51516
Are volunteering to get volunteers?
These events are not easy to put on and the fact they run so well is a testament to the event company running them.
Looking forward to Sunday Parkways this year! Most looking forward to a Sunday Parkways in East Portland where the routes are on actual Neighborhood Greenways, not “future, funded” Greenways.
Milwaukie is doing its own event this year in addition to Parkways (it piggybacked on SE/Sellwood in 2017)! https://www.milwaukieoregon.gov/events/carefreesunday
Sunday Parkways are the best. I really love participating.
Bike Beaverton 2019 is on September 8.
It’s not the same as Sunday Parkways (no closed roads), but it is a city-sponsored mass ride through the neighborhoods of Beaverton. Hundreds of folks on bikes, riding together. It’s pretty fun, and a great way to see some of the neighborhoods in the area.
https://www.beavertonoregon.gov/bikebeaverton
Which part of the city has no event? That would be the Southwest, of course.
There was a really good event in Southwest some years ago, though I think some motorists complained about being delayed in their automotive journeys. I asked someone at the city why the event in Southwest couldn’t be held anymore, and I got a really snotty response, which didn’t seem to me like a good way of rallying support. My sense was that the city just didn’t want to put on an event in Southwest – too much trouble – and they were glad to be rid of it.
The green loop event is in SW.
Too many neighborhood complaints for the further out SW events in the past. Sounds like you need to convince your neighbors.
Sunday Parkways needs more riders like this guy. Keep lycra and hi-viz to minimum.