More Bend roads are getting lower speed limits

Following community input and engineering analysis, speed limits will be lowered this month on several roads around Bend, including Reed Market Road, city officials said Wednesday.

The changes involve the following road sections:

· Second Street between Wilson Avenue and the northbound Parkway ramp – from 35 mph to 30 mph

· Colorado Avenue from the northbound Parkway ramp to Industrial Way – from 35 mph to 25 mph

· Arizona Avenue from Industrial Way to Colorado Avenue – from 35 mph to 25 mph

· Reed Market Road between 15 th Street and 27 th Street – from 40 mph to 35 mph

The new speed limit signs will have orange warning flags on top for a few weeks to call attention to the changes, the city’s announcement said.

“These speed changes were initiated by a combination of citizen requests and city staff in response to changing traffic and development along these corridors,” the news release stated.

In Oregon, speeds for roads within the city that are not highways or local residential streets (such as the aforementioned road sections) are set by Oregon Department of Transportation.

The new speed limits are established based on a traffic study that looks at existing driving speeds, road characteristics, adjacent land use, access locations and more. It can take up to a year to complete this speed study. Most of these requests started this past summer.

The city is asking drivers to pay attention to the new speed changes and be aware of conditions. Oregon’s basic rule speed law requires driving at the speed that is safe for conditions – this may be a speed slower than the posted speed.

“With winter here, it is especially important to pay attention to speed. Drive safely,” the announcement said.

ODOT recently reduced the speed limit on Highway 20 east of Hamby Road from 55 mph to 45 mph, a move that was in the works before a fatal crash at the intersection. Unannounced by the agency at the time was another speed reduction earlier this month, on Greenwood Avenue (Highway 20) from 15th Street east to Dalton Street, from 45 mph to 35 mph.