Sunday Parkways

Sunday Parkways are times set aside on weekends and holidays for traffic-free biking and walking on a network of selected streets. In effect, streets are transformed into trails. Hundreds of thousands of cyclists use Sunday Parkways called Ciclovia in Bogotá, Columbia, and Via RecreActiva in Guadalajara, Mexico. Sunday Parkways do not impact motorized traffic flow like other special events, since all cross-traffic flows normally. Participants stop at all traffic signals, so that only the closed street is affected. Often on a divided arterial, the Sunday Parkway uses one half of the roadway and motorized traffic uses the other half. Sunday Parkways provide close-to-home recreational opportunities for all ages and all types of active travel.

The concept has scalability: it can be instituted on a one-mile network or a twenty-mile network. It can happen one time only or once a week. Since no permanent infrastructure is required, a trial entails very low risk. In Bogotá and Guadalajara, the experience transcends that of just a bike ride. In effect, Sunday Parkways becomes an institution that links communities and launches cultural, recreational, health and civic engagement.

The Healthy Streets Campaign is exploring a Sunday Parkway pilot in the City of Chicago with interest from the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Mayor's Office for Special Events. Potential suburban pilots are also being considered.