Maintenance to slow traffic along Forest Road 41

Starting this week and continuing through the first week of June, the Deschutes National Forest will be improving Forest Road 41 west of Bend.

Work is under way to upgrade the road surface, shoulders and pullouts on the road, located about 4 1/2 miles west of Bend. The road offers access to trailheads along the Deschutes River as well as many miles of non-motorized trails including trailheads that access Tyler’s Traverse and Storm King trails.

Contractors have already started the work to cut out and replace crumbling asphalt on the shoulders of the road. The next phase of construction will include adding gravel to turnouts along the roadside that provide parking opportunities for the public to access non-motorized trails.

Finally, the contractor will be adding a chip seal to the road to improve the surface of approximately 3.4 miles of Forest Road 41.

While the contractor may need to temporarily close turnouts along the road to add gravel and improve the parking surface, officials said these closures will be only a few hours at a time and the turnout will be open and accessible immediately following the work.

The entire maintenance project, which began Monday, is anticipated to be completed June 5.