SW Bend residents upset with drivers on detour route
Roundabout construction off Brookswood Boulevard and Powers Road in southwest Bend has nearby neighbors up in arms — not about the construction, but the detour that runs down their street.
“We all have kids — in fact, one of our neighbors runs a day care,” Paige Barnes, a concerned neighbor, said Monday. “They are really nervous. They have little ones, and neighbors across the street have kids.”
People living off Elkhorn Street say drivers are going way to fast and missing stop signs.
“Tons of cars. I won’t even let my kids play outside in front or ride their bikes because there are so many cars,” said Barnes.
The street is being used as a detour until work on a new roundabout at Brookswood and Powers is complete.
Neighbors say they understand the need to build the new roundabout, but want people using the detour to slow down and obey the law.
“it’s kind of scary, to be honest,” said Barnes. “They just want to get — nobody really cares to slow down.”
Bend city leaders say they are responding to the concerns of neighbors with more police patrols and better signs to make drivers aware of what’s going on.
“There have been some issues related to safety and signage that we are responding to,” said City Manager Eric King. “We are increasing our patrols in the area with our law enforcement folks, *and) we are looking to just increase awareness within the neighborhood.”
But after the first day of the detour Monday, some neighbors say they’re not convinced.
“We have yet to see it,” said Mary Ann Leyen, another concerned resident. “I think that if they do get more complaints, law enforcement will show up, as long as the residents just stay on top of that. If we start making calls like we need to, it will happen.”
The city says we haven’t had a lot of construction on city streets over the last few years, but people need to be cautious and ready.
“Watch out for folks on the street,” said King, “These are neighborhoods that you are going through, and to slow it down.”
On Tuesday morning, the city plans on cutting back some trees to make stop signs more visible, and police patrols will be beefed up in the area.
