Sunday Parkways began on June 22, 2008 in North Portland, returning on June 22, 2014

 (June 17, 2014) – Portland will celebrate the 25^th Sunday Parkways on June 22^nd in North Portland, on the same date and in the same neighborhood where the hugely popular summer event series began seven years ago.

The City of Portland Sunday Parkways presented by Kaiser Permanente rolls through the neighborhood from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., offering a nine-mile loop of traffic-free streets where people can bicycle, walk, stroll, roll, and play while enjoying music, food and activities along the way.  The route connects five parks, including the beautiful Peninsula Park Rose Garden. View the map of this Sunday's North Portland route.

Sunday Parkways has grown in significant ways since its start while continuing to remain free to the community: 

• In 2008, Sunday Parkways was a single event in one neighborhood, offering a six-mile route. It became an instant hit,  attracting 15,000 attendees. 
• In 2014, the North Sunday Parkways is expected  to draw double the attendance of that first event.  Plus, the program has expanded to become  an annual series of five events offered once a month in a different neighborhood of the city. This year, Sunday Parkways will open 38 miles of city streets to traffic-free activities and is projected to include more than 100,000 participants during the five month season.  

Sunday Parkways’ purpose is to open the city's largest public space – its streets – for people to walk, bike, roll and discover active transportation, while connecting neighbors to each other and the community.

Kaiser Permanente has been the presenting sponsor from the start. “We saw a great idea in Sunday Parkways and are pleased to be a partner in growing the movement,” said Daniel Field, senior director of Community Benefit with Kaiser Permanente Northwest. “Sunday Parkways promotes health in a fun way that contributes to the well-being of our communities.”

As part of this Sunday’s event, We All Can Ride (WACR), a group that organizes bicycling activity in the New Columbia neighborhood, will lead community bike rides for New Columbia youth and families throughout the afternoon. WACR’s ride is organized in collaboration with Portland’s Safe Routes to School, the Community Cycling Center, Kaiser Permanente and Trauma Nurses Talk Tough.

“Biking is amazingly empowering, natural and fun, and there is no turning back for us,” said Yvette Maranowski, a member of We All Can Ride. WACR encourages and educates communities of color and low-income communities to start looking at the bicycle not only as a hobby but a tool for transportation and fitness.

In addition to the Portland Bureau of Transportation and presenting sponsor Kaiser Permanente,  Sunday Parkways is made possible by community partners Portland Parks & Recreation, Universal Cycles, Metro Regional Government and AARP of Oregon, as well as hundreds of volunteers.

Residents along the route will be able to get to and from their homes. However, we strongly encourage postponing or limiting vehicular trips.  Sunday Parkways will have small barricades and volunteers at intersections to manage this limited access. All other streets are open for vehicular traffic.

The rest of the Sunday Parkways season is: July 27 in Northeast Portland; August 24 in Southeast Portland; and September 28 in Southwest Portland. See maps of the routes and find more information about Sunday Parkways, including volunteer information, at www.PortlandSundayParkways.org or call 503-823-7599.

 ###

 View a Streetfilms video of the 2008 Sunday Parkways at http://www.streetfilms.org/portlands-sunday-parkways/. View the Transportation Bureau’s 2014 video of the Sunday Parkways program at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EEf5TabMKg

 Photos from 2008’s first Sunday Parkways (credit: PBOT) https://www.flickr.com/photos/50623218@N02/sets/72157645254694643/