The North Corridor project broke ground on Monday, Oct. 17, after nearly two decades of planning. The $174 million project will realign U.S. 97 with a nearby railroad and will convert what’s currently U.S. 97 into an extended Third Street.
“We were really looking ahead this far 20 years ago, and about 10 years ago is when we really started going after working on the funding and the plans and how we were going to execute this project,” said Kacey Davey, spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Transportation. “As more people have moved to the area and more freight traffic is using 97, we thought about designing a project that not just would get vehicles through the area, but what also helped move people through the area, even if they weren’t using a car.”
The area has gotten more congested over the past 20 years as the population soared, and the project aims to reduce traffic, improve access to the Cascade Village Shopping Center, make the section of the highway faster and create options for walking and biking along the highways. The stoplights on that section of U.S. 97 and mergers from Empire and U.S. 20 can often cause rear-end collisions.
“As more people have moved to the area and more freight traffic is using 97, we thought about designing a project that not just would get vehicles through the area, but what also helped move people through the area, even if they weren’t using a car.” —Kacey Davey
“One of the things that this project will do is really help to relieve congestion in that area. We’re going to be extending the parkway north following along the railroad tracks and so folks won’t have stoplights that they have to stop at, you can just continue all through that area if you don’t need to stop on the north end of town,” Davey said.
Traffic lights are also getting replaced by roundabouts on U.S. 20 at the intersections of Robal Lane and Cooley Road. Davey said roundabouts reduce serious and fatal crashes by about 90%.
“You don’t have head-on crashes or T-bones or other types of high impact crashes that you usually see at signalized intersections,” Davey said. “It also provides a safe place for pedestrians and cyclists and everyone else to cross those roundabouts as well.”
Improvement to pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure is one of the key benefits of this project, according to ODOT. A new bus station is going in on Robal Lane, and a 12-foot-wide path will be constructed along what’s now U.S. 97 from Empire Avenue to Cooley Road.
“Their design is what we call low-stress systems, which means that it’s not safe just for someone who’s an avid cyclist and used to riding on busy roads, but it’ll feel safe for everyone who wants to use that type of transportation,” Davey said.
The funding for this project is made up of federal, state and local money. The biggest contributor is the $60.4 million Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant from the federal government, followed by a $50 million investment the state legislature approved in HB2017, $39 million from the Infrastructure and Jobs Act and $10.3 million of ODOT funds. Both the City of Bend and Deschutes County are also throwing $5 million into the pot.
ODOT’s first steps will be installing roundabouts and pedestrian infrastructure on U.S. 20, which is expected to be finished by the end of 2023. Spring of next year it’ll start work on the existing U.S. 97 and by fall will be constructing the new U.S. 97 by the railroad — both of which should be completed by the end of 2024. ODOT acquired three businesses along the railroad through eminent domain to build the new U.S. 97. Though most of the construction will happen at night, people can expect some traffic impacts.
“We will be maintaining access to all the businesses on that side of town, but there will be construction, maybe similar to what you’re seeing on Third Street right now,” Davey said. “Our teams are actually working on some innovative ways of staging the project so that we can have as little impact to traffic as we can just because we know that’s such a busy, important area for people.”
This article appears in Source Weekly October 20, 2022.
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Thank you Biden administration!
If this was planned 20yrs ago and last 10 working on funding, where was the 60.4 million from current Biden infrastructure going to come from when it didn’t exist 10yrs ago? With current inflationary economy, is the budget still $174 million? This will be good for Bend and central Oregon overall, but hard to believe will be on budget.