Portland Sunday Parkways sets 2026 season dates and adds a new North Portland open-streets route

A city program will again open neighborhood streets to people walking, biking and rolling

Portland Sunday Parkways will return in 2026 with a four-event season and a new route planned for North Portland, expanding the program’s rotating neighborhood approach that has emphasized adding one new route per year while repeating routes for multiple years at a time.

Sunday Parkways is a Portland Bureau of Transportation program that temporarily closes selected streets to most motor vehicle traffic to create car-free space for walking, biking, rolling and community activities. Events are free to attend and designed to be joined from multiple entry points along each route, with activity areas typically concentrated near parks and other neighborhood destinations.

What’s scheduled for 2026

The announced 2026 season includes four events focused on Southwest Portland, East Portland, Downtown Portland and North Portland. Specific route maps and on-the-ground logistics are expected to be released closer to each event date.

• Southwest Portland: a spring event continuing the program’s recent pattern of pairing a shorter multi-modal loop with a separate walking route.

• East Portland: a summer event aligned with prior East Portland editions that have highlighted park-to-park connections on an out-and-back style route.

• Downtown Portland: a fall event continuing the downtown return that brought car-free blocks back to the city center after a multi-year gap.

• North Portland: a late-season event featuring a newly introduced route for 2026.

What a “new route” means for North Portland

In past seasons, the program has used neighborhood routes to connect parks, greenways and community hubs while introducing participants to local walking and biking infrastructure. A new North Portland route signals that the 2026 season will add at least one new geography or alignment in the program’s North Portland footprint, potentially shifting which corridors, parks and commercial nodes are highlighted.

Operational details: closures, access and participation

Sunday Parkways events typically involve time-limited street closures during the event window, with designated crossing points for car traffic and limited local access for residents and businesses located on the route. The program relies on volunteers and a network of vendors and community partners to staff information areas, support route management and provide activities along the course.

Sunday Parkways uses temporary, car-free street space to support walking, biking, rolling and community gathering on neighborhood routes.

Context: a rotating model with repeated neighborhoods and periodic additions

Recent seasons have been structured around four annual events, each anchored in a specific neighborhood area for multiple years, with periodic additions to the route lineup. The 2026 season continues that four-event format while adding a new North Portland route, indicating the program’s continued emphasis on expanding where open-streets events are staged across the city.

Additional details on dates, maps, transit impacts and vendor or volunteer registration are expected to be published as each event approaches.