Businesses along Bend’s Galveston Avenue express traffic safety concerns; city plans major upgrades next year

(Update: adding video, comment from businesses, Bend Bikes, city)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)-- After a drunk driver crashed into Bonta and was arrested on a DUII charge earlier this month, viewers brought up safety concerns related to Galveston Avenue. The City of Bend already is planning to revamp the corridor in 2025 to create safer conditions for drivers, cyclists and businesses along the street.

City officials say the busy corridor is lined with many popular businesses, but the aging roadway, lack of parking and inadequate walking and biking features can bring traffic delays and safety hazards.

Galveston Avenue is known for its amazing restaurants and businesses, but it's also known for its lack of safety for pedestrians and bikers. Starting in 2025, the road will see major improvements to address those safety concerns.

"We shouldn't wait on somebody to get hurt for the infrastructure to get better," Christian Bailey, an employee of El Sancho on Galveston, said Thursday "If we don't have safe infrastructure, then people can't commute, right? And if people can't commute right, then just getting to work is a danger."

Bailey says he often hears complaints about dangers in the area. Across the street, at the restaurants Sunriver Brewing and Bosa, management declined on-camera interviews but said accidents are a daily occurrence due to speed and a disregard for pedestrian safety.

Ryan Oster, director of engineering with the city, said, "We want to build something that's safer and a shorter distance for the (pedestrians) to be able to go across Galveston, as well as enhance some of the bike corridor and just create kind of a nicer environment that's more of a multimodal concept."

Oster outlined the plans for improvements, which include adding 10-foot-wide sidewalks, landscaping to provide a buffer, on-street parking and lighting.

There are several crosswalks on Galveston Avenue with no painted lines, making it less safe for pedestrians and making it hard for drivers to notice when people are crossing.

"An example of an improvement for the pedestrians would be installing a center island median," Oster said. "So instead of having to run across multiple lanes of traffic, you only have to look one direction at a time."

Bike lane upgrades are also in the plan - they'll be five feet wide, with a two-foot buffer.

Bend Bikes board member David Green has shared his feedback with the city for several years.

"The important thing would be to put protectors along the bike lane and put medians, not just painted medians," he said.

"Galveston is a street that doesn't know what it's doing," Green said. "It's being asked both to move a lot of cars quickly through town. And it's also asked to service the neighborhood and the businesses."

The City of Bend tells NewsChannel 21 they will be opening a public forum to receive feedback on the current design plans and to receive recommendations from residents.

The $2 million project is being funded through the city's Transportation Capital Improvements Plan, which uses gas tax revenues.