Businesses in pinch as downtown Bend paving project begins

The streets of downtown Bend have been due for maintenance, officials say, so crews will work overnight Wednesday and Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 9 a.m. to start a paving project for Wall and Bond streets.

They will stop construction during the Bend Summer Festival on Friday and Saturday, but will continue after and will have the work done before the Cascade Cycling Classic on July 19.

The roads are open during the day and parking stalls will be marked with a sign telling drivers when their car has to be gone. If it is not removed by the driver, the city will relocate it to the Troy Field parking lot.

Both Josh Duda, owner of Duda’s Billiards Bar, and the Deschutes Brewery Pub Manager Brenda Freitas said Wednesday evening while the situation in peak summer tourist season is not ideal, they also understand the city has a job to do.

“I’m not a fan of it, but I do understand that they have a job to do,” Freitas said. “Concrete and paving is very temperamental, and you can’t have any frost or anything wet, so there is only so many times a year that you can’t have the weather.”

Detours will be marked during construction and the parking garage will always be available for people to use.

“I’m worried about losing customers,” Duda said. “If they drive past and see that every single parking spot outside of your business are not able to be used, people might just decide to come back later.”

City officials say they understand there is no good time for road maintenance, but they hope working on the streets over night will help with any inconveniences.