Hotel, other changes in the works on 27th Street

A hotel is in the works near St. Charles Bend, but some neighbors are worried that it won’t be a good fit for the area.

The hotel would sit at the corner of 27th Street and Conners Avenue and would provide lodging options for those family members and others spending time at the hospital.

The hotel that is being developed by Landmark Inns would be a four-story building, but some of the residents in nearby homes are not sure it’s a good idea.

Jim Connor, the president of the Oak Tree Homeowners Association, said Monday he feels there are a lot of things the city needs to take into consideration before moving forward with the project.

A neighborhood association chairperson said some of the homeowners in her area adjacent to the site were not notified of a meeting about the hotel.

The neighbors said they want to make sure the noise and the traffic that could be created by the hotel are accounted for.

“We don’t think you can put this hotel here and not have a four-way stop light at 27th and Conners,” Connor said. “You wait a long time to make a left-hand turn from this direction.”

City officials said Monday they’re aware of the hotel proposal, but it’s still in the application stages at this time, and because of that, it’s too early to determine what kind of impact a hotel might have on traffic in the area.

Connor said he just wants to make sure his HOA and other neighborhood associations,are heard and are a part of the planning process.

The city is also looking to make safety improvements to 27th Street by adding a crosswalk.

In 2014, the city created a list of projects to be done after surveying the community and looking at data where streets are busiest to determine where safer crosswalks should be placed.

Now, on 27th Street just north of Conners Avenue, a crosswalk is set to go in, with lights and a safety island in the middle of the road.

Robin Lewis, a transportation engineer with the city of Bend, said the priority is making walking throughout the city more accessible.

“I think for everyone, we just all want to get home safely. We want to get where were going safely,” Lewis said. “And crossing these busy streets is really, really difficult without the safety island in the middle of the road. … The flashing beacons and things like that can tell drivers and anyone else on the road that they’re about to cross the road.”

The city is working toward the bidding phase for this project and hope to have it started by summer.

The city is now working toward adding more safety improvements in the next transportation plan.

Officials said they are hopeful that with the input from the community, it will be able to identify more problems areas that can be addressed.