Reed Market Rd. work sparks driver dismay

Orange cone after orange cone along Reed Market Road are making southeast Bend drivers see red.

“I have to get west from here, and it’s a pain,” one driver said Friday.

It’s a pain that grew this week after Reed Market was reduced to one lane, and there are more detours in place.

“Even if you head westbound on Reed Market, where are you supposed to go? The cones are out, the business access isn’t even labeled,” said another frustrated driver.

Neighbors say the cones have been out for a week, but Friday was the first day they’ve actually seen crews working.

“We see guys with yellow vests standing out there, and we watched a guy count cars for 2 hours (Thursday),” one resident said.

City officials say crews have been out there working every day. Iit’s all part of the process.

“Monday and Tuesday, we did some surveying, while Wednesday and Thursday were spent doing some potholing, which is locating the existing utilities that are on the project to make sure that we aren’t going to bump into those when we start doing the heavy work next week,” said Ryan Oster, project engineer for Bend Public Works.

“Flaggers are a very expensive route to go,” Oster added. “When it’s this scale of a detour, we go with the signals, signs and cones first.”

Some residents say they don’t mind the construction. It’s the careless drivers that can cause an accident.

“Anytime you see a cone, slow down. There’s something going on,” one driver warned.

Despite the madness, some neighbors understand in the end the work, the wait and the wondering will pay off.

“It’s progress, and there’s nothing we can do about it,” one driver said.

The 15th and Reed Market intersection will be finished by November. The rest of the Reed Market corridor will not be finished until next August.

Learn more at the city’s Web page on the project.