How we’re able to move around in Bend has an enormous influence on our quality of life. Our City Council controls the philosophy used by the engineering department to build streets. They approve the projects that get built. How they feel about transportation will affect all of our lives. Although Bend Bikes cannot endorse candidates, we’ve asked all of this year’s candidates five questions about transportation, here are their responses.
Position #7 (Mayor) Candidates
Melanie Kebler (incumbent)
1. What is your philosophy when weighing the safety of people walking, biking, and rolling with convenience and capacity for people driving?
People using all modes of transportation deserve to be safe on our streets, sidewalks, and paths. But we must recognize that people walking, biking, and rolling are more vulnerable to serious injury and death from conflicts with cars, and that slower vehicle speeds and turning movements will bring more safety for both people inside and outside of cars. I want kids and families to feel safe biking and walking to school, and I want workers to get to work safely, and I want people to feel they have a meaningful choice as to whether or not to get into their car for every trip around town.
We also need to recognize that the safe and efficient movement of people, goods, and emergency services requires a connected and reliable transportation system, and that we still have work to do to catch our infrastructure up to our growth. In some cases we should separate modes to create safety, and in some cases streets should be focused on calming or diverting traffic enough so that biking and walking is safer. Our midtown changes have shown how biking and walking increases when better infrastructure is put in place, with relatively minimal delays in traffic travel time. I will continue to support investment in a connected transportation network that gets people to the places they want to go, provides more safety, and increases the confidence of our residents to walk, bike, and roll around our city.
2. What would you do to help create a more complete, connected network of low-stress bike routes in Bend?
I want to continue our work to build the north-south and east-west spines of the Bend Bikeway and follow through on the Hawthorne Overcrossing as a major step forward in building out a connected network. We can build on the key routes work that is in our Transportation System Plan, as well as projects that have added low stress options on streets like Wilson, Butler Market, Olney, and Franklin. East-west connections are still constrained in Bend, so a pedestrian and bike bridge in our core area, that connects safely to downtown and up to Juniper Pool and Franklin key route, is going to be a huge part of the future network. I think we can also leverage our Transportation and Mobility Advisory Committee to continue to help shepherd GO Bond projects as well as advise on our overall transportation project plan to ensure a connected network gets built.
3. Do you support using quick-build, lower-cost improvements to make streets safer and close gaps in the network while longer-term projects are planned? What types of improvements would you support?
Yes. I support lower-cost pilot projects like the changes to Greenwood Ave and the diverters that we are trying out in parts of Old Bend. I support our update to our Streets and Standards policies that will allow us to try out more of these type of solutions. We can look to many other cities who use traffic calming, diverters, filters, and painted solutions to create safer streets for examples of what we can try out here.
4. Bend Bikes is concerned that multi-lane roundabouts can create significant safety challenges for people walking and biking. How would you approach proposed expansions such as 15th & Reed Market and Bond, Reed Market & Brookswood?
We have the opportunity, as we fulfill the promise to voters who supported the GO Bond, to take a look at, and budget for, increased safety options at these planned multilane roundabouts. I feel it is important to uphold the intention of the bond resolution to improve cross-town connectivity through some of these intersection expansions; successfully implementing this bond will allow the credibility to ask voters to support future bonds for transportation infrastructure in our city. I have supported the requests to include design considerations and budget allowance for enhanced safety for people walking and biking as these projects have been discussed at Council so far, and I will continue to do so.
5. How should the City evaluate transportation projects to ensure they contribute to a connected citywide network rather than solving individual problems in isolation?
We operate under a guiding document, the Transportation System Plan (TSP), that attempts to alleviate this problem by creating a long term comprehensive plan for the whole network. The many projects in the TSP were selected during a process that involved a lot of public input and technical advisory committee deliberation. We will be updating the TSP as part of our growth plan work that is starting this year, during which the community will help Council to create a vision of planned growth for the city for the next twenty years.
I support the next iteration of the Transportation System Plan adding even more emphasis on the connected network concept. In the interim, I approach each project that comes up to Council with a lens of how this will connect people into our greater system. For instance, we have had many discussions about Hawthorne Overcrossing will need to connect into other key routes that also are safe and convenient for people walking and biking. I also supported expanding our transportation bond oversight committee’s scope of work to include not just GO Bond projects but all our transportation improvements, for the exact purpose of being sure we are thinking about things holistically. Though it will be piece by piece over the upcoming years, we will have a connected system with many more separated bike paths, completed sidewalks, and increased safety for all as we follow our transportation plans.
Bernadette Strome
1. What is your philosophy when weighing the safety of people walking, biking, and rolling with convenience and capacity for people driving?
I want every member of our community to feel safe commuting on Bend roads no matter their chosen mode of transport.
2. What would you do to help create a more complete, connected network of low-stress bike routes in Bend?
I would like to know what Bend Bikes would suggest, your group is obviously experienced and has thought through this issue. If elected mayor, I would value your input and be eager to know how those solutions could work into the overall vision for an active, safe, well maintained and common-sense oriented community.
3. Do you support using quick-build, lower-cost improvements to make streets safer and close gaps in the network while longer-term projects are planned? What types of improvements would you support?
Yes! Of course I think that any quick, low-cost improvements should be considered. Especially if they support larger goals of safety and efficiency for residents.
4. Bend Bikes is concerned that multi-lane roundabouts can create significant safety challenges for people walking and biking. How would you approach proposed expansions such as 15th & Reed Market and Bond, Reed Market & Brookswood?
Our engineers should be able to figure this out, I’d like to research more but, off the top of my head I think a different color for the bike lane inside the roundabout would be an easy option, as well as considering audible crossing signals with proper lighting for vulnerable cyclists and pedestrians. Definitely room for creative problem solving here!
5. How should the City evaluate transportation projects to ensure they contribute to a connected citywide network rather than solving individual problems in isolation?
I would like to know what your group thinks about current projects and where you would like to see changes or improvements to be made to the City’s current plans? What holistic solutions would Bend Bikes suggest and or/ like to see moving forward?
Position #6 Candidate (unapposed)
Elana Reinholtz
1. What is your philosophy when weighing the safety of people walking, biking, and rolling with convenience and capacity for people driving?
I don’t accept the premise that Bend has to choose between safe and effective walking, biking, and multi modal transportation options, with convenience and capacity for driving. We can have safer biking pathways, and better designed roadways.
2. What would you do to help create a more complete, connected network of low-stress bike routes in Bend?
I agree that we need a more complete network of connected low-stress, safe bike routes in Bend. As City Councilor, I will evaluate the biking master plan by this standard, and work to resolve disconnected and biking corridors.
3. Do you support using quick-build, lower-cost improvements to make streets safer and close gaps in the network while longer-term projects are planned? What types of improvements would you support?
I only support quick-builds when absolutely necessary. What I find too often, is that quick builds are used in place of smarter growth planning, and that building towards a big idea takes much more work and dedication. As City Councilor, I will work towards a solution that is able to grow with our city, and inline with smarter growth.
4. Bend Bikes is concerned that multi-lane roundabouts can create significant safety challenges for people walking and biking. How would you approach proposed expansions such as 15th & Reed Market and Bond, Reed Market & Brookswood?
Similar to my previous answer, if biking and walking pathways are not safe and low stress, then it should not be a solution that Bend as a city should be encouraging. I am committed to low stress biking pathways, and the belief that we do not need to choose between smaller, more congested roadways, and increasingly accessible multi-modal transport access.
5. How should the City evaluate transportation projects to ensure they contribute to a connected citywide network rather than solving individual problems in isolation?
In line with my previous commitment to a more complete network of connected, low-stress, safe, bike routes in Bend, we must not use quick fixes and commit to a robust biking and multi-modal transportation Master Plan. Smarter growth requires solutions that scale with our growing city, and we must not rely on quick partial fixes to replace a broader vision that works for both bikers and those who may not be able to access those options.
Position #5 Candidate (unapposed)
Ariel Mendez
1. What is your philosophy when weighing the safety of people walking, biking, and rolling with convenience and capacity for people driving?
I try to keep the sustainable transport hierarchy in mind when approving transportation plans. In order of descending priority, first meet the needs of people walking and wheeling (pedestrians) > bicycles > public transit > freight > taxis > high occupancy vehicles > single occupancy vehicles. This benefits everyone, including drivers, because more people not driving alone means less traffic and more parking for those who still need to/choose to. Feel free to visit www.arielforbend.com or get in touch at [email protected] if you have additional thoughts or questions.
2. What would you do to help create a more complete, connected network of low-stress bike routes in Bend?
We need to complete the first phase of the Bend Bikeway then plan and implement Phase 2. This would connect underserved areas to the main bikeway. We should prioritize completion of the bicycle and pedestrian master plans and provide budget funding to implement them. Safe crossings need to be a bigger priority so that people feel comfortable crossing even busy arterials.
3. Do you support using quick-build, lower-cost improvements to make streets safer and close gaps in the network while longer-term projects are planned? What types of improvements would you support?
Yes! We are starting to see some examples of this with places like Greenwood and the traffic diverters on select segments of the Bend Bikeway. I would like to see more. We don’t always need the “gold standard” that will last for decades. We should be willing to try something and then iterate.
4. Bend Bikes is concerned that multi-lane roundabouts can create significant safety challenges for people walking and biking. How would you approach proposed expansions such as 15th & Reed Market and Bond, Reed Market & Brookswood?
I think we need to tap the brakes on multi-lane roundabouts until we are fully investing in the kinds of programs and policies that will reduce the number of cars on the road. Alternatives to widening every intersection include: Investing in better transit, encouraging large employers (including the school district) to adopt transportation demand management programs, building safe routes to schools and parks, land use decisions that ensure that residents don’t have to drive for every trip. These are all tried and true congestion relief programs that are cheaper, healthier, and more convenient in the long run. If we are going to build multi-lane roundabouts, we need to adopt safer designs that make crossing them easier, including for people with disabilities. Things like flashing lights, raised crosswalks, tighter turns for drivers to slow speeds down should be standardized.
5. How should the City evaluate transportation projects to ensure they contribute to a connected citywide network rather than solving individual problems in isolation?
This is what the bicycle and pedestrian master plans are supposed to address, but it keeps getting delayed. It will be a big part of the upcoming transportation system plan update, so there will be some great opportunities to have input there!