Bend City Council gives the green light to cross town routes for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Two routes will be built in the next two years.
One north-south route and one east-west route will be built during the new budget cycle.
They are designed to reduce stress for walkers and bicyclists and increase alternate forms of transportation.
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The Bend City council has plans for 12 cross town bikeways.
On Wednesday night, council approved construction of two of them.
“Starting out at the urban growth boundary, coming in through downtown past Bear Creek Elementary and eventually over to Juniper Swim Center,” said Ryan Oster, City of Bend Engineering Direct. “It then goes under the Franklin under crossing, crosses the river at the Columbia Park bridge and heads further west down Shevlin Park Road.”
Plans call for a widening and leveling of the Franklin Avenue under crossing which currently has the skinniest sidewalks and tunnels in town.
“The North-South route starts at Sawyer Park, comes down Butler Market and connects to a greenway we have on 6th Street. You can cross highway 20 at a safe crossing we installed there. It gets you to the Juniper Park Area,” Oster said. “From there it goes down the Coyner Trail and the Larkspur Trail and gets down 15th Street.”
The vision is to provide a cross-town bike network that is accessible to people of all ages and abilities.
“If you can get on this network, you are going to be able to get across town, north to south or east to west, without having to worry about traffic or dangerous crossings,” said Ariel Mendez, Bend City Councilor.
Several sections of the Bend Bikeway are already improved and new sections of the routes will connect the pieces, making it easier for people to walk and bike around town.
The basic design of the Bend Bikeway is a double striped bike lane with an adjacent sidewalk.
In many areas, a single, wider shared-use path may be built.
