Bend begins workshops on updating transportation plan

Bend is working toward updating the city’s transportation plan and began a series of public workshops Wednesday evening to gather public comments at the neighborhood level.

It was the first of five interactive workshops for neighborhoods to voice their opinions.

The idea is to take a look at what can be improved in each neighborhood in order for that to be included in the transportation plan.

Karen Swirsky, a senior planner with the city, said there are many things people consider when giving input for this process.

“Safety, being able to cross the street safely, getting children to school, cut-through traffic, speeding is a big concern of people,” Swirsky said.

Those were many of the same concerns voiced by people at the first meeting.

People who attended the workshop also were able to vote on what they believe should be the biggest priority projects for the city.

The idea is to take into account as many ideas as possible at this early stage. Then those ideas will go before a committee to make some more firm plans.

“Our citywide transportation advisory committee will be looking at those, and thinking about how to prioritize them and sort of match funding to projects,” Swirsky said. “So the outcome will be a list of prioritized projects.”

Once that list of projects is finalized, then the city will be able to decide just how much funding will have to be put toward the new transportation plan — and whether, when and how to seek funding from voters, to supplement other sources.

In that regard, a city legal notice published Wednesday seeks requests for proposals from firms “to assist the city in forming a public relations strategy for building support from Bend voters for a package of transportation investments,” possibly including focus groups and community surveys. The submission deadline is Feb. 14.

The city hopes to start drafting the new transportation plan around October or November.

There are still four more workshops scheduled for various neighborhoods around the city in coming days.

If you would like to learn more about the transportation plan update, click here.