‘Aspirational visions’ of multi-use paths spark debate at hearing on Deschutes County 20-year transportation plan

Paths can make travel safer - but critics say they can cause conflicts with wildlife and homeless

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Deschutes County reached a milestone Wednesday with a public hearing on the draft update of its 20-year Transportation System Plan. But inclusion of some controversial proposals for bike and multi-use path routes – even though not really up to the county to make happen -- brought a predictable round of debate to the table.

Commissioner Phil Chang, well aware from submitted comments what the tenor of the debate would be, said at the start he was excited to see the 2020-2040 plans for various improvements to safety and access. But he assured that the paved pathways were “included mostly as a symbolic statement. The county is not going to fund, build or operate any of the paved pathways.”

“We’re not talking about county plans,” he said. “We’re talking about hopes people have in our community. We’re not the landowners. At some level, what the county says about these doesn’t even matter, in terms of whether they get built or not get built.”

County Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee member Chris Cassard echoed those thoughts, calling the bike path and trail routes' inclusion “really a vision statement,” with goals to improve safety by “separating bikes from auto travel to the extend practical, with grade-separated or wider bike lanes.”

Sisters City Councilor Gary Ross said the council and mayor support inclusion of a long-controversial plan for a bike path corridor between Sisters and Black Butte Ranch, though he later acknowledged that with all the opposition that arose, even seeing that happen in 20 years is a “maybe.”

ODOT Region 4 Planning Manager David Amiton raised an issue over a much more imminent project south of Bend: a Baker Road to Lava Lands multi-use path. ODOT’s preferred and planned alignment heads south on the east side of Highway 97 to the High Desert Museum, where it would use an undercrossing to the west side and continue south to the Lava Lans Visitor Center.

The eastside portion of the plan is in ODOT right-of-way and would be maintained by the agency, he said (later drawing some raised eyebrows due to the funding issues ODOT is facing at present regarding existing routes to maintain.)

Amiton objected to the county Planning Commission’s recommendation to keeping the path south from Bend all on the west side of the highway. He said that was a stance taken “without any notice to or input from ODOT,” and which he said conflicts with long-standing plans that have included federal funding for evaluation and plenty of stakeholder involvement.

Planning Commission member Matt Cyrus took issue with that, saying they held a public hearing and that “ODOT chose not to participate.” He and other critics spoke of such trails, with people, bikes and even dogs, having negative impacts on wildlife habitat and potentially leading to more homeless encampments and conflicts.

Rex Parks, president of the Bend chapter of the Oregon Hunters Association, also voiced opposition to the multi-use trail plans and said the eastside route ODOT is planning would have a negative impact on mule deer usage. The “added stress of trail users, especially during the winter months, will only accelerate the downward spiral of the mule deer population,” which has fallen significantly in recent years.

Among those speaking in favor of the multi-use focus were former Bend city councilor John Schubert and Bob Nash of the Redmond Bike-Pedestrian Committee, who also acknowledged the “aspirational” nature of including the unmapped, unfunded routes.

Other likely hot topics going forward include a south interchange being discussed for Deschutes River Woods and a proposal, controversial for years, for a bike/pedestrian bridge over the Deschutes River from southwest Bend, which the county noted would really be up to the Bend Parks and Rec District.

After the hearing, and ahead of future deliberations, Chang proposed keeping the paved pathway projects in the plan but removing the listed priority ratings. He suggested “that we do not indicate any preferences on alignments or configurations,” and instead “encourage all the key stakeholders involved in these projects to try to resole and balance these multiple needs: access and mobility, habitat protection and not impacting land uses" in rural resource areas.

Commissioner Tony DeBone asked Chang to formalize his proposal in writing and talked of scheduling final deliberations before the end of the year. Colleague Patti Adair asked county planners to tally the number of positive and negative comments on the more disputed aspects of the TSP, as one way of gauging community views, though staff noted that some people submit multiple comments.

More documents and details of the TSP update can be found here: https://www.deschutes.org/cd/page/transportation-system-plan-update-2020-2040-247-23-000507-pa-508-ta