Bend presses ahead with renewed Juniper Ridge vision

City hopes sewer will help spur investment; Council OKs Phase 2 of greenways

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- At Wednesday night's Bend City Council meeting, councilors got an update and looked some of the best ways to encourage and accommodate more business development at the city-owned Juniper Ridge site.

The city is getting ready to put a sewer system in through Juniper Ridge, and that means the 500 acres on the north end of town will soon be ready for more development.

Decades after acquiring the land for $1 from Deschutes County, and over a decade after a master-plan vision foundered in a deep recession, the city hopes the land will create new opportunities for business to grow and be created.

Matt Stuart, the city's urban renewal manager, spoke about future plans for the site.

He said the city wants to see Juniper Ridge accommodate for the city's growth and become an employment hub for the region.

"Juniper Ridge, the 500 acres will have the capacity to support over 4,000 new jobs," Stuart said. "So in order to do that, we really have got to look at what's exhibiting or prohibiting development in that area, and how can we sort of expedite that moving forward."

Juniper Ridge is zoned for light industrial use, meaning the land can be used for anything from warehousing and manufacturing to offices and corporate headquarters.

The city hopes the area will embrace and facilitate growth in business.

Learn more: https://www.bendoregon.gov/government/departments/economic-development/juniper-ridge

On another topic, councilors agreed to move forward with Phase 2 of the Neighborhood Greenways effort.

Last year, the city wrapped up the first phase of the program, which creates safe streets for walking and biking.

The greenways allow for a comfortable and safe route on neighborhood streets for walking and biking, utilizing speed humps, signage and pavement markings, such as "sharrows."

Councilors decided decided Wednesday night to lower speed limits on the new greenway streets, on the northwest and southeast sides of town, from 25 to 20 mph.

Project Engineer Rory Rowan said the greenways' goal is to give people an option to travel by various modes, away from busy streets.

"The point of the greenways is you have a lower stress, calmer, a lot of times lower traffic, slower street that is nearby a busier route that people can choose," Rowan said. "And that is what we are trying to do is give those people the options, places they are more comfortable with their families allowing them to get to schools, parks businesses while not having to use some of those busier routes." 

The budget for phase 2 of the project approved Wednesday night is $360,000. The work will start early June and should be done about 90 days after construction starts.

Learn more: https://www.bendoregon.gov/city-projects/infrastructure-projects/neighborhood-greenways