At its Wednesday, July 17 meeting, the Bend City Council unanimously approved the contract to begin the Midtown Crossings Greenwood Avenue pilot project and Second Street waterline project.
The project will make important improvements on Greenwood Avenue, creating safer travel for pedestrians, bicyclists and cars. The project will also include the replacement of an aging waterline on Second Street, a much-needed infrastructure upgrade.
Multiple design options were considered, and multiple stakeholder perspectives such as pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers, ADA accessibility and emergency services helped develop the final quick-build design. The Greenwood Avenue “quick-build” between Wall Street and Second Street is a low-cost and low-risk implementation method that will include:
- Painted curb extensions and new safer protected crosswalks with a median island. (Reduces crashes with pedestrians by 31%.)
- Buffered bike lane. (Reduces crashes with bikes by 47%.)
- Reduction of travel lanes for cars to one in each direction with a dedicated left turn lane. (Reduces crashes by 29%.)
- Accessible ADA parking spaces.
- Safer, wider, buffered parking on the south side of Greenwood Avenue.
- New crosswalks to access parking on side streets.
Construction on Greenwood is scheduled to begin on July 29 and continue through Aug. 14. Expect day work with lane closures, flaggers and traffic delays up to 15 minutes throughout the duration of the project. In addition, Greenwood will be closed to all vehicles for 48 hours in early August and night closures will take place periodically throughout construction. For up-to-date project information and daily traffic closure updates visit bendoregon.gov/midtowncrossings.
Following the installation of this project, there will be up to a year-long evaluation period with traffic studies conducted and public feedback solicited. Results from the evaluation will be vetted internally and with City Council. A recommendation regarding potentially making the quick-build permanent will result from that evaluation and report.
The Franklin Avenue undercrossing and the Hawthorne Avenue Pedestrian and Bicycle Overcrossing are also projects that fall under the Midtown Crossings Project. Franklin Avenue work will likely be completed in 2026 and the Hawthorne Pedestrian and Bicycle Overcrossing will be completed in 2027 at the earliest. The Greenwood Avenue improvements will provide necessary safe pedestrian and bicycle access prior to the completion of both Franklin and Hawthorne.
Improving the transportation system by focusing on safety is a City Council goal. Creating safer connections between neighborhoods, places of work, schools, parks and businesses, for people who ride bikes, walk and roll is a City priority. The City is designing a variety of safer and more accessible bike and pedestrian routes throughout the community, including the Midtown Multimodal Connections and Streetscaping Project that will improve east-west travel between downtown and the Central District for all users.
For more information on the project visit bendoregon.gov/midtowncrossings.
Accommodation Information for People with Disabilities:
To obtain this information in an alternate format such as Braille, large print, electronic formats, etc. please contact Jacob Larsen at 541-647-0696 or jlarsen@bendoregon.gov.
