Street View: Sundays Are For Open Streets

"In the early 1970s, bike activists in Bogotá, Colombia convinced their city leaders to close two major thoroughfares to car traffic, giving the space to people riding bikes and walking for one day. Thus began the tradition of Bogotá's world-renowned Ciclovía (cycleway) events, which now occur every Sunday and on most holidays, transforming more than 70 miles of city streets into car-free playgrounds."

"Portland, too, was influenced by the Latin American open streets tradition. In 2008, Portland hosted its first Sunday Parkways open streets event, explicitly modeled after Bogotá's Ciclovía, and the program has since grown into a beloved annual celebration. Still, Sunday Parkways remains far less ambitious than comparable events around the world. It takes place on just a handful of Sunday afternoons every summer, a far cry from the weekly car-free events that occur in so many Latin American cities."

"Plus, since the city sees Sunday Parkways as an opportunity to show off neighborhood greenways and bike routes, the events have largely been confined to low-traffic streets. This may be good for helping Portlanders get familiar with their local biking and walking routes, but it doesn't necessarily lend itself to the thrilling experience of taking over a major thoroughfare typically reserved only for car traffic."

In the early 1970s bike activists in Bogotá convinced city leaders to close two major thoroughfares to cars for one day, launching Ciclovía. Ciclovía now occurs every Sunday and most holidays, converting more than 70 miles of streets into car-free public space. The Bogotá program inspired similar open-streets initiatives worldwide, with Latin American cities like Quito, Rio de Janeiro, Guadalajara, and Mexico City hosting large weekly events. Portland adopted the idea with Sunday Parkways in 2008, modeled on Ciclovía, but limits events to a handful of summer Sundays and focuses on low-traffic neighborhood greenways rather than major thoroughfares.

Read at Portland Mercury