Bend Park & Rec Board hears continued sharp debate over proposed Deschutes River footbridge in SW Bend

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The community showed up in full force for Tuesday night's Bend Park & Rec Board meeting to weigh in on a proposed Deschutes River footbridge that’s been discussed and debated since the mid-'90s.

It was standing room only as community members came out to either express their support or rejection over the Deschutes Trail – South Project. Earlier this year, the supporting group Connect Bend said it would endorse candidates who back moving forward, starting with Deschutes County Commissioner Phil Chang.

Henry Stroud, principal planner for Bend Park & Rec, explained some of the issues:

“For this project in particular, we have that section of the Upper Deschutes River that has certain protections. There's a state Scenic Waterway program, and then there's a federal Wild and Scenic Rivers program. The river segments are classified as scenic or recreational. There's different designations for different portions of the river, have certain guidelines attached to them for the management plan for the Upper Deschutes River.

"Within the state segments, which is where the location of this bridge is proposed, there is language in there that says new bridges will not be permitted. However, there are some mechanisms through the plan to apply to have a one-year waiting period."

Many communities came out to express their opposition to the project.

Speaker 1: “The primary concern with the bridge that Oregon Wild has seen, as well as a lot of other conservation groups in Central Oregon, is that it would set a precedent to weaken public lands' river protections.”

Speaker 2: “We support the protection of public lands and wild places. We also oppose the construction of a bridge over the southern Deschutes River."

Speaker 3: “A bridge would result in more urbanization."

Speaker 4: “I've been a patron of the Park and Recreation District since the Vince Genna era. I'm opposed to building the footbridge…”

There were also some at the meeting that want to see the development move forward.

Speaker 1: “I'm here for the pedestrian and bike bridge south of town. I hope you guys can find a way to make it work. If you've ever walked or driven or rode your bike on Reed Market, it is terrifying, and having an alternative south of town to be able to access the amazing trails and parks in our community would be great.”

While the board meeting was only meant to provide background and history and listen to the community’s thoughts and opinions over the project, there was some guidance from Bend Park and Rec’s board members on how they’d like to proceed.

Stroud said: “Our board did pass a resolution in 2019 that halted work on this project. We have not been actively working on the project. Tonight was really a recapitulation of the project's history and kind of an info session for our board.

"What I did hear from our board is that they would like us to come back with some ideas for possible work, plans for trying to figure out some of those really important questions. What would a bridge look like? What are some of the impacts? As staff, we're going to be going back and kind of sharpening our pencils and trying to figure out is there a work plan that we could present.”