Safety concerns users of Bend’s Franklin Avenue underpass

Bend is an outdoor town, which means lots of people spend lots of time walking, biking, jogging and running around town. But does everyone feel safe?

In the pedestrian walkway of the Franklin Avenue underpass in Bend, there’s graffiti on the walls, poor lighting and trash everywhere.

All of that, combined with people who sometimes sleep in the tunnel, can make walking through it feel a bit scary to some users.

NewsChannel 21 reached out on Facebook to ask if anyone had ever felt uncomfortable walking through. Although some people said the tunnel wasn’t a problem, several women said they didn’t like it.

They included Jade Worthington, who talked of a worrisome jog, heading to pick up her car.

“I was going to take the underpass to get there, but I saw sort of a sketchy-looking guy go down in the underpass, and something in my gut said, ‘Don’t go down there,'” Worthington said.

The underpass pedestrian tunnel has 7-foot ceilings and a 5-foot wide path, meaning there’s not much room for people to pass by each other.

According to Ashley & Vance Principal Engineer John Fischer, when the underpass was designed decades ago, it wasn’t exactly designed with pedestrians in mind.

“If you were going to design a pedestrian underpass to more modern standards, I think we understand a more open, higher ceiling (would) make people feel more safe, a little bit less claustrophobic,” Fischer said. “So it was kind of designed more utilitarian and less with the vision we now have for Bend, which is more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly.”

As for crime in the area, according to Bend police, since March there have been 11 calls to the area. They include two calls for criminal mischief, two hazard calls, two suspicious person calls, two disputes, two intoxicated person calls and one harassment call.

And for people who have walked through the tunnel like Worthington, it’s not surprising.

“I feel like I’m a pretty strong person, capable of standing up for myself.,” she said. “But just when you’re by yourself in a place that’s enclosed, low visibility and you don’t know who else could be going through there, it makes you feel kind of vulnerable.”

The city of Bend is working on plans to make Third Street more pedestrian-friendly and according to Mayor Casey Roats, when that happens, the underpass will also get another look.