Safe walking the issue on NW Bend street

A tight squeeze on NW 14th Street in Bend has some commuters and residents complaining.

“Yeah, it’s just a little bit claustrophobic when I’m walking straight down (the street),” Gram Gebhardt of Bend said Tuesday evening.

“It’s like a car is going to get me from behind or something like that,” Gebhardt added.

Libby Griffin just moved into a house on 14 th Street this week, and the mother of two says the close proximity to the road is a bad pairing with speeding cars. Some areas have narrow sidewalks — some have none.

“It’s really concerning, especially with two young children being so close,” Griffin said. “And there’s really nothing that slows down the traffic between the roundabouts.”

Residents want city leaders to repair and add sidewalks to the street, but the city says it’s not their job to do so. City code states that property owners must maintain sidewalks adjacent to their property.

“You can always put in a sidewalk with a permit, and continue the accessibility of the street. It’s not something that we have money for,” said Bend Street Division Manager Hardy Hanson.

One remedy Hansen provided was not related to the walkways, but to the drivers going along the route.

“People will often go much faster than the speed order,” said Hanson. “Maybe there needs to be more enforcement in the area.”

As one who drove down the street often before moving into the area, it’s an idea that Griffin supports.

“I have never given this street a second thought, but now that I live here and I’m witnessing how dangerous it can be,” she does, Griffin said.

“Not only for my children; there (are) a lot of children that live in this area,” she added.