Rolling into Winter
As we roll into winter this month the work on the transportation system in Bend isn’t slowing down. It is important to keep in mind the almost one third of people who do not drive during these winter months especially. Keeping the sidewalks, multi-use paths, and bike lanes clear of debris, ice, and snow can be paramount to keeping all people safe. If you see something that needs to be addressed by the City of Bend, we encourage you to report it on the Bend Works app.
Read on to find out how to give feedback on upcoming projects and open houses and ride with us at Second Sunday Spokes!
Revere Corridor Participant Advisory Committee
Bend Bikes has been participating in a Revere Corridor Participant Advisory Committee put on by ODOT and the City of Bend. The corridor in question is on Revere Ave in between NW Wall Street and NE 4th Street. This “pre-design” planning is aimed at working with the BNSF Railway to:
- address safety concerns at the rail crossing
- evaluate the separation of different road users to improve safety
- address the intersection at Revere and Division because of crashes at the interchange and queuing of vehicles over the railroad tracks
These design goals will be examined and feedback is requested on if they are hitting the mark for this section of road. Do you feel that these are the right goals and that they encapsulate what you would want to see out of this project? If you have feedback on these design goals, please submit them to us by December 11th and we will bring them forward to the project team.
Our Favorite Bike Routes – Caldera High School to Ponderosa Elementary School Along the future Bend Bikeway
The best route from Ponderosa Elementary School and Pine Nursery Park to Caldera High School traverses the east side of Bend from north to south.
Upcoming Events
Second Sunday Spokes
Sunday, December 8, 10am – Meet at SE 2nd Street and SE Wilson Ave
We will ride down SE 2nd Street to SE Aune Street to check out the conditions of Aune and discuss what improvements could be made for the City’s upcoming Aune project at Cafe des Chutes.
Meet at 9:45am for the ride to start at 10am. Hope to see you there!
The City of Bend’s Study on People Streets (Online now – Dec 2)
The city is conducting a study to help the State of Oregon define what “People Streets” should look like. Using the Hawthorne Corridor from Juniper Park to Drake Park as a case study, they are asking for input about a spectrum of possibilities that are designed for people who walk, bike, and roll, some of which allow cars and some of which don’t. Participate in the open house to find out the advantages of plaza streets, shared streets, low car streets, and greenway streets and let the city know which of these you like and where.
(Online now through Dec 2nd at noon)
Franklin Corridor Open House (Online Dec 5-19)
Current plans resulting from the earlier open houses will be shown and they will be asking for limited feedback such as:
- Do you feel the project team considered everything needed in drafting the preferred design for safety improvements? If not, what considerations would you add or change?
- Is there something else you want us to know about this section of Franklin Avenue?
We know that the underpass and related sidewalk tunnels will not be reconfigured but will have better lighting and minor cosmetic upgrades. Beyond that, we’re curious to see what will be done to improve this important cross-town corridor for people walking, biking, and rolling.
Bend Electric Bikes Holiday Donations
To mark their 16th year, Bend Electric Bikes is collecting Food & Goods for the Giving Plate. Plus, when you drop off any of the following items you receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win a Gazelle Ultimate eBike! All donations must be in by 12/15/24. Drawing on Monday 12/16/24.
Bend Bikeway Project (Online Dec 16-Jan 2)
Planning for the Bend Bikeway is well underway but since it is being done in phases, there are now new areas to provide feedback for. The Bikeways will provide two routes: The East-West route will start out on Bear Creek Rd and end up on Skyliner Dr on the west. The North-South route starts along Purcell Blvd near Pine Nursery Park in the north and ends at Caldera High School on SE 15th St and Knott Rd. The two routes will cross at Juniper Park. Look at the open house to see what’s planned and provide input to the final parts of the project.
Bikey Book Club
Next Meeting: January 27, 2025
The book club is taking a long winter nap and will reconvene on January 24th, 2025! We’ll be watching a video related to our next book, Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle by Jody Rosen. The library has a copy and there should be time to check it out before our next meeting. Watch this newsletter for details about our next meeting.
Last month we featured a list of the books we’ve read in the past and it may be enough to quench your desire for bikey books over the winter. For those who need more, we recommend a new book that’s received lots of attention in some out-of-the-way circles we inhabit: Killed By A Traffic Engineer by Wes Marshall. Despite its provocative title, the book is not an inflammatory screed, but a look back at the history of traffic engineering research, motivations, and standards, peppered with popular culture references from the author’s favorite movies and TV shows. The subtitle, “Shattering the Delusion that Science Underlies our Transportation System,” is supported by excerpts from research papers and articles from such journals as “Traffic Quarterly” from the last 100 years. The author drops into rabbit holes to try to understand why streets and roads are built the way they are. He discovers that traffic engineering practices and standards are focused much more on moving cars than on the safety of people driving those cars or people moving along and across streets outside of cars. He concludes that this ethic has always dominated the way engineers think about traffic. Wes Marshall is a professional engineer with a Phd in civil engineering and a professor at University of Colorado Denver where he is working to change the way traffic engineers are trained. We will be reading this book sometime in the next year.