Bend sees strong interest in neighborhood safety projects
(Update: Adding video, neighborhood comments)
The city of Bend has received hundreds of applications for consideration in its new Neighborhood Street Safety Program. The program plans to fund several small-scale residential street projects around the city, addressing safety- and traffic-related issues.
The Neighborhood Street Safety Program received 362 applications, and 263 meet the program criteria as presented, officials said. The Neighborhood Leadership Alliance will now identify and prioritize the 26 top projects, two from each of the 13 neighborhoods. There were some requirements like the proposals had to be more than 3 blocks long and have more than 400 vehicles travel in the area daily.
The highest projects, totaling up to $800,000, will be recommended for construction.
The ranking will continue until Oct. 15. Project design and construction of the approved projects is expected to take place between June 2020 and October 2021.
The affected neighborhoods are: Awbrey Butte, Boyd Acres, Century West, Larkspur, Mountain View, Old Bend, Old Farm District, Farm District, River West, Southeast Bend, Riverbend Crossing, Southwest Bend and Summit West.
A Larkspur Neighborhood Association board member said Wednesday some projects that might be overlooked otherwise are low-cost projects that are easy fixes.
” People are interested in having the ability to get out of their neighborhood and walk to nearby schools and other facilities, ” said Susan Sullivan. ” So crossing busy streets has been the biggest single issue. The next-highest level of interest is cut-through traffic, so speeding and heavy traffic through neighborhoods as a result of the arterials and collectors being too busy. ”
R iverwest , a neighborhood near downtown Bend, has seen growth in residents and traffic, as have many parts of the city. A Riverwest Association board member said Galveston Avenue, Harmon Boulevard and Columbia Street are problem areas near schools and parks.
” The street safety program is really important as our city grows, ” Stephanie Higgins said. ” In the next five years or 10 years, we are going to be facing more safety concerns with growth in the area. Although it’s awesome and brings jobs to our market and people and culture, and so many things, we do have to evolve with it as well, increasing the safety of our streets. ”
Riverwest submitted 50 project applications to be considered.
KTVZ 2019
