Is rerouting North Highway 97 in Bend’s future?

Major highway projects are not cheap. That’s why the Oregon Department of Transportation is looking for all the funding it can get, to turn a plan for improving Highway 97 on Bend’s north end into reality.

That new reality would include rerouting Highway 97. If funding is provided and plans are approved, Highway 97 would split off from its current route just north of the Empire Avenue underpass, then continue north along the railroad tracks toward Redmond.

That way, many of the traffic lights along Highway 97 on Bend’s north end could be avoided and some of the congestion could be eased. Third Street would be extended to the north as a more local street, taking the highway’s place past the many stores large and small along that route, also extending past the traffic-choked Cooley Road intersection before connecting to the highway.

But not everyone believes this plan is all it’s cracked up to be, including Bend resident Steve Roberts,

“It looks like a temporary fix, like a Band-Aid,” he said. “It could be a permanent solution, but if they do, whatever they decide to do on this north end, it better be the solution instead of, when they get it done, it’s obsolete. Get it right, ODOT.”

Others, including Nicolas Alexandre, owner of The Cherryman fruit stand, are sick of the traffic, and hope the plan will work.

“Sometimes, the line is all the way from the light all the way to the further light — you know, further than half a mile,” he said.

“I mean, Bend is growing so they have to do something about it — and that’s probably the only way. I mean what else can they do about it?” Alexandre added.

Before anything can really happen, funding has to be gathered. This week, the Bend City Council is expected to formally approve a $5.5 million contribution to match a $60 million federal grant that ODOT is hoping to secure.

If the city goes ahead with this plan, $2.5 million of the $5.5 million would come from the Transportation Construction Fund and $3 million would come from the Juniper Ridge Urban Renewal Funds.

The council will vote on the resolution Wednesday night.

Nick Arnis, director of the city’s Growth Management Department said city councilors are very receptive to the fixes the plan offers.

“We’re dealing with the intersections on the parkway that are signalized,” he said. “They have the most crashes and the most unsafe area slows the congestion points, so if we can figure a way to get up and over those, that’s what a lot of this is about.”.

The entire project has been in the works for the past 10 years, and there’s been extensive outreach to the public about what they’d like to see in the area.

It’s also the topic of Monday’s KTVZ.COM Poll. We’re asking: Do you avoid shopping on Bend’s north end due to traffic congestion? You can find it halfway down the right side of our home page.