Sunday Parkways will return to Portland this spring and summer so participants can bike, walk and roll through quiet neighborhood streets without cars — but only three times from May to September instead of five.
This year, the Portland Bureau of Transportation will host three car-free events — in east Portland, Northeast Portland around the Cully neighborhood and Southwest Portland.
That’s more than last year, when Sunday Parkways returned after a pandemic-induced break with two events. But it’s less than what Sunday Parkways offered the city before COVID-19 forced the event to follow a virtual or self-guided format in 2020 and 2021. As recently as 2019, Sunday Parkways hit the streets five times per year.
Linda Ginenthal, a retired Bureau of Transportation program manager, helped launch the event in 2008 and is credited with its success.
“I’m just so happy they’re coming back with three, and maybe in the future they’ll do more,” she said from Canada, where she now lives. “One step at a time.”
As is typical, the routes for 2023 will highlight newer bike infrastructure and city parks, including Gateway Discovery Park, completed in Northeast Portland in 2019, and the inclusive playground at Gabriel Park in Southwest Portland, completed in 2022.
— Beth Slovic; bslovic@oregonian.com; 503-221-8551
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