Bend builds toward bond measure with one-minute survey

(Update: City to use 2 billboards to promote survey)

The city of Bend says it’s working on ways to improve traffic flow and safe travel for the community. Staff and city council are planning for the future and addressing current needs, but say they need the community’s help.

The city just launched a one-minute survey that allows the community an opportunity to help prioritize the most highly-desired safe travel and traffic improvement projects. The one-minute survey is available at www.bendoregon.gov/one-minute-survey.

Some transportation projects, such as the Empire and Murphy corridor improvements currently under construction, are already funded. But many other important needs aren’t.

At a special council meeting on Sept. 30, all councilors said they supported a potential bond measure in May of 2020 as part of a longer-term transportation funding strategy.

The Citywide Transportation Advisory Committee, which is helping the city update its long-range transportation plan, recently sorted a long list of transportation infrastructure projects into near-term (1-10 years), mid-term (11-15 years), and long-term (16-20 years) categories.

The city said more community input such as this survey can continue to help prioritize projects in the near-term category. The results will be shared with Bend’s policymakers as they consider options for a bond measure.

Two billboards, at North Highway 97 and Division Street, and Southeast Ninth Street and Wilson Avenue, will be used by the city later this year to urge and remind residents to take part in the survey.

The city had allocated about $5,000 for billboards to remind of single-use plastic bag ban before Jan. 1, until a new state law prompted repeal of the city ordinance, city Communications Director Anne Aurand said.

“I took advantage of the reserved billboards for the new outreach priority – additional community involvement and input with our transportation efforts,” she said.

Visit www.bendoregon.gov/safe-travel for more information.

KTVZ 2019