Deep pothole raises concerns for NE Bend drivers

A couple wants more clarity after the city of Bend said it’s not responsible for fixing the deep, sharp-edged pothole on a private road that caused over $1,000 worth of damage to their car.

Last Thursday, Scott and Glenda Boyce said Wednesday they were driving around the corner on Northeast Bellevue Drive near Starbucks when they dropped into the pothole and heard a loud crash from under their.

Scott stepped out of the car and measured the depth of the pothole at seven inches. They ended up paying more than $1,100 to repair the damage.

The Boyces contacted the city about the incident.

City Streets Director David Abbas said dangerous potholes are dealt with as soon as they are reported, but that only applies to public streets. And Bellevue Drive is a private street from Forum Drive to Benson Way.

Fixing issues such as potholes on private streets falls under the responsibility of the adjacent property owners.

However, for drivers like the Boyces, distinguishing a private road from a public street is difficult.

“The city has got a sign naming the street, and I would’ve thought it was a city street,” Glenda said. “But the city says ‘no’.”

A second pothole located in front of the Starbucks parking lot on Northeast Bellevue Drive also raises some concerns.

Teagan Howell works in the area, and she said the pothole serves as another distraction while looking out for traffic.

“It’s just kind of hard to drive around and try to avoid the cars, and people driving through this bad parking lot, and trying to avoid the huge potholes,” Howell said.

Howell said she is aware of how to report potholes to the city, but feels they would not respond due to the large amount of emails they receive.

Johnny Burroughs, also a Bend resident, shares the same sentiment.

“Maybe we should always report it, even though we have the assumption that others are reporting it too, because you never know what could happen,” Burroughs said.

Property managers on Northeast Bellevue Drive said they already contacted a private company to patch the potholes several weeks ago. However, they don’t now when the work will be done.

The Boyces hope what happened to them will not happen to other drivers.

“It had to be the right car, had to be in the right position — but for my car, it did the damage,” Scott Boyce said.