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(Sept. 19, 2019) The Portland Bureau of Transportation and presenting sponsor Kaiser Permanente invite Portlanders to join them on Sunday, Sept. 22 to experience the fun and freedom of car-free streets at the last Sunday Parkways of the year, in Northeast Portland.
The event will debut Sunday Parkways' first Walking Boulevard on Northeast Ainsworth Street between Alberta Park and Fernhill Park. The Boulevard will be open to walkers all day and will also be programmed with the Next Level Health Walk in partnership with Sam Thompson and Oregon Walks.
"In Portland, our streets are for everyone," said Chris Warner, director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation. "We are excited to be able to highlight walking this Sunday as a healthy, fun transportation option. Sunday Parkways helps us celebrate how great it is to walk or bike on our streets, whether alone, or with our friends, our families and our neighbors."
The Next Level Health Walk will provide African American and Black focused health, fitness and wellness programming along with a walk and activities from noon to 4 p.m. There will be health and wellness resources available to all participants along the route of the Walking Boulevard on Northeast Ainsworth Street. The one-mile walk will gather at noon at Alberta Park at NE 22nd Avenue and Ainsworth St and start walking at 1 p.m. to Fernhill Park, at NE 37th Avenue and Ainsworth St.
"On June 26, 2019, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and that opened my eyes to the health issues affecting the black community," said Sam Thompson, a Portland native and longtime Black community leader. "Losing many important members of the community in ways that were preventable made me want to be proactive in creating an avenue focused on the health and wellness of the Black community. There will be a variety of vendors providing various services to encourage a healthy lifestyle."
"Walking is a fantastic way to celebrate community and promote health," said Jess Thompson, executive director of Oregon Walks. "Oregon Walks is proud to partner with Sam Thompson and Next Level Health Walk to do just that at Sunday Parkways’ first walking-only event. We want to thank Sam Thompson for sharing his vision and passion of a walking event focused on celebrating Black and African American health and community."
In keeping with that theme of open streets that create spaces to walk, roll and bike, Sunday Parkways will again host the Bi-lingual Bike Fair presented by the Andando en Bicicletas y Caminando (ABC) formerly known as Andando en Bicicletas en Cully Group. The ABC group is comprised of Latinx residents in the Cully neighborhood committed to providing and coordinating programs to connect more Hispanic families with information in English and Spanish centered on pedestrian and cycling safety. The Bi-lingual Bike Fair can be found at Khunamokwst Park (pronounced KAHN-ah-mockst - click to hear the full pronunciation) on Sunday between 11 am - 4 pm~! All are welcome.
Northeast Portland Sunday Parkways offers a 7.6-mile route on streets with neighborhood greenways markings and low speed limits for everyone to bike, stroll, roll, skate and play on traffic-free streets from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. By holding traffic-free Sunday Parkways on routes that include neighborhood greenways, PBOT hopes to introduce people of all backgrounds to get out and get active every day.
 The Sunday Parkways route also will connect Northeast Portland Parks – Fernhill, Woodlawn, Alberta, and Khunamokwst Park. The event’s detailed Sunday Parkways route map shows the route as well as bus and light rail options to help area residents get to Sunday Parkways via bike and transit. A schedule and listing of event highlights are available on the Sunday Parkways Northeast Portland brochure.
Sunday Parkways is a series of five free community events opening the city's largest public space – its streets – for people to walk, bike, and roll and discover active transportation. The event series, held in a different neighborhood once a month from May to September, is hugely popular; total attendance topped 125,000 last year.
For maps and more information, visit www.PortlandSundayParkways.org or call 503-823-7599. Follow us on Facebook at PortlandSundayParkways and on Twitter @SundayParkways.
Northeast Portland Sunday Parkways provided by the generous support from the following sponsors:
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