Would Reed Mkt. Fix Have Averted Tragedy?
In May, Bend voters spoke loud and clear, passing a road bond. More than 60 percent of the $30 million are are slated to fix Reed Market Road. But with another fatal crash Monday night, some people are once again speaking loud and clear — in anger and dismay.
“All we need is a turn lane and bike lanes. They can do their fancy roundabouts and their overpasses and all that other crud when they get the money. Give us a turning lane!” said Kristin Thomas, a neighbor who lives along Reed Market Road.
The road sees 10,000 to 15,000 cars a day, according to the city. Pedestrians say they see trouble every day.
“When your walking down through here, if somebody goes to stop or turn, the cars will shoot off into the dirt and you have to jump to the side,” Veronica Sturmer said Tuesdasy.
Improvements in the works include a roundabout at Reed Market and 15th, and a redesign at American Way.
“It’s looking like a couple of years before you’ll see some projects out here,” said Nick Arnis, a transportation engineering manager with the city of Bend.
With just eight significant accidents over the past four years on the books for city engineers, the road doesn’t rate high enough to fix sooner.
“Something as tragic as this, you start asking questions about how could you avoid this — and then, what could have been done? And those are the right questions to ask,” said Arnis.
Where the accident happened, Reed Market is going to be widened to three lanes, with a turn lane in the center, and there will be six-foot bike lanes on either side of the road.
Nobody can say for sure if that would have prevented Monday night’s tragedy. But both the city of Bend and the people who live along or regularly use the busy stretch of road are hoping it will make the odds a lot longer that another tragedy will ever happen again.
