2 • The Southwest Portland Post
EDITORIAL
July 2017
Portland celebrates 10th anniversary of
Sunday Parkways (but not in Southwest)
By Don Snedecor
The Southwest Portland Post
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler
p ro c l a i m e d S u n d a y, J u n e 2 5 ,
“Portland Sunday Parkways Day”
to celebrate 10 years of these events.
June 25 marked the 10th Sunday
Parkways event in North Portland,
the route that has typically attracted
the largest crowds.
According to a Portland Bureau
of Transportation press release,
“Sunday Parkways is a series of
free community events opening
the city’s largest public space—
its streets—for people to walk,
bike, roll and discover active
transportation.
“The events are loved by
Portlanders of all ages. Total
attendance for the 10 years has
topped 690,000 over 38 Sunday
Parkways events.
“Residents and visitors say they
come to enjoy the traffic-free streets
connecting parks and schools filled
with activities, music and vendors.
It’s safe, family friendly and a
chance to meet neighbors.”
All of those things may be true
in other parts of the city but not in
Southwest.
In a letter to Don Baack and
the Southwest Trails board dated
A p r i l 1 4 , 2 0 1 6 f ro m P o r t l a n d
Bureau of Transportation Director
L e a h Tr e a t s a i d , “ P B O T h a s
struggled to craft and implement
a Sunday Parkways program for
southwest neighborhoods that
meets our program goals and
invites neighborhood participation,
while also providing a parkway
route that cyclists, pedestrians and
other modal users can safely and
reasonably access.”
According to Treat, there were
several reasons for not having
Sunday Parkways events in
Southwest. Among those were
topography, lack of infrastructure,
lack of connectivity, conflicts with
volunteers, and lack of program
participation.
“Hills are a staple part of the profile
in Southwest,” said Treat in her
letter. “Neighborhood greenways in
Southwest are significantly steeper
than the streets and routes that
Sunday Parkways has used in other
locations in previous years.”
T h e l a c k o f c u r bs a n d fu l l y
improved streets, composed of
gravel and uneven paving surfaces,
would likely mean families who are
not already avid cyclists or walkers
would spend more time navigating
the hills and terrain than enjoying
the spirit and comradery created
during the day’s events, said Treat.
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Treat noted that there were limited
options available for alternate
detour routes. “Adding to this
challenge is the fact that participants
are uncomfortable sharing streets
with moving vehicles.”
According to Treat, “Lack of
connectivity has also proven to
be a strenuous experience for our
volunteers… Sunday Parkways
relies extensively on volunteer staff.
In order to retain this dedicated
corps, Sunday Parkways must
ensure that their experience is
meaningful, safe and reasonably
free of conflict. “
Treat noted that unfortunately,
given the experience of volunteers at
previous events Sunday Parkways,
the city could not guarantee that
future events would be “reasonably
free of conflict.”
Program participation was
a n o t h e r p ro b l e m f o r S u n d a y
Parkways events in Southwest,
said Treat.
“Participant numbers in
Southwest, even on the sunniest of
days, have been the lowest of any
event hosted by Sunday Parkways
in the eight years of its operations,”
said Treat. “Unfortunately, this has
led to fewer season-wide sponsors
and fewer vendors willing to sign
up with events scheduled for
Southwest.”
Despite the total lack of success
with Sunday Parkways outlined
by Treat, the city still tried to put a
positive spin on the situation when
contacted about this story by The
Post.
According to Bureau of
Transportation spokesman Dylan
Rivera, “In 2018, Sunday Parkways
returns to Southwest Portland for
the first time since 2014. A Sunday
Parkways route will introduce the
public to the Green Loop, a planned
6-mile active transportation loop in
the Central City.
“This will include a segment
from the Tilikum Crossing in South
Waterfront to downtown Portland.
So folks riding in from elsewhere
in Southwest Portland will be able
to join up with Sunday Parkways
in South Waterfront – or ride the
Portland Aerial Tram to Sunday
Parkways!”
Despite the rhetoric, it sounds
like the city has decided to
hold off on traditional Sunday
Parkways events in the Southwest
neighborhoods. At least until the
area is flattened, a grid pattern
established, streets are paved,
sidewalks built, participation levels
improve, and neighbors get along
better with volunteers.
Celebrating
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24
Editor & Publisher .........Don Snedecor
Reporters / Writers...... ....KC Cowan, Jack Rubinger,
................Erik Vidstrand
Copy Editor ......................Janet Goetze
Advertising Sales ...........Don Snedecor
Graphic Design ..............Leslie Baird Design
Printing ............................Oregon Lithoprint
Circulation .......................Rick Hepper
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