This week, the Bend Park and & Recreation District and the city of Bend took another step toward a significant renovation of Riverfront Street. The project’s goal is to connect Miller’s Landing Park and Drake Park, the missing Deschutes River Trail link in the center of Bend.
The city and park district have chosen a conceptual design, according to a Wednesday email sent by project engineers to local residents. The proposal calls for replacing the damaged sidewalk with a 10-foot-wide asphalt shared-use path and limiting traffic to northbound one-way.
The city anticipates that design improvements will continue until the fall of 2025. Planners are unsure of the project’s completion date because construction finance has not yet been obtained.
The decision made on Wednesday concludes a year-long process during which the public and planners considered both the one-way and two-way roadway concepts.
In order to accommodate the wide path on the opposite side, the two-way street design would have required advancing the street closer to residences bordering the eastern curb.
According to a survey during public outreach, which polled 48 people, 85% of respondents supported the one-way design, making it the favored choice for both project workers and community residents.
During a park district board meeting on January 7, Board Member Nathan Hovekamp stated, “I would give great deference to the public, the neighbors, and the residents in that area.”
Since the one-way concept was first proposed roughly ten years ago, when the park district investigated the project but discovered a complete street rebuild would be necessary, which was beyond their purview at the time, Henry Stroud, principal planner for the park district, said the survey results represented a significant change in public opinion.
In 2023, the city became a part of the project. The agencies are dividing the $683,000 design contract’s expenses in half.
Additionally, the upgrades will aim to repair the stormwater system, rebuild the deteriorating pavement, reshape the entry to Miller’s Landing, and enhance pedestrian crossings on Galveston Avenue close to Drake Park.
On the eastern banks of the Deschutes River, Riverfront Street runs five blocks along the western boundary of the Old Bend Neighborhood District. The Deschutes River Trail leads north from Miller’s Landing to the south end of Riverfront Street, a dead end where many drivers who want to enter the park wind up going in the wrong direction, especially in the summer. One block north is a footbridge that crosses the Deschutes River and connects to Columbia Park.
With a 12-foot car lane, the one-way design will reduce the street’s width from 24 to 20 feet. On the east side of the roadway, all parking will be moved to an 8-foot lane.
The one-way idea will significantly lessen traffic on Riverfront Street, which is currently a low-volume area, claims Stroud. For Eilise Ward, who lives on the west side of Riverfront Street, that is wonderful news. Ward mentioned that people frequently zoom down the street, which is crowded in the summer with walkers, runners, tubers, and bikes, as she was leaving for an afternoon stroll on Wednesday with her dog.
Residents preferred to keep the street’s tiny, charming feel, according to the city’s public feedback process.
The idea of a shared street, where all forms of transportation use the same street, was desired by a tiny but loud minority, according to Stroud. Planners may be able to apply some of those ideas in the design of the shared-use trail, Stroud informed the park board.
Riverfront Street’s future plans are being developed as Bend allocates funds for better bike and pedestrian routes, which occasionally entails removing automobile lanes. Nine million of the $43 million allotted for bicycle and pedestrian projects—of the city’s $190 million transportation bond—has already been spent.
A resident of Bend’s east side, Tom Braun has been walking the Miller’s Landing route to Riverfront Street almost daily lately. Braun suggested that the city install a traffic light to control congestion at the roundabout at Bond Street and Reed Market Road, stating that he believes funds would be better used on other transportation projects rather than Riverfront.
Regarding Riverfront Street, he stated, “I’m okay with the way it is now.”
However, for Megan Bowerman, who has spent 14 years living on the south end of Riverfront close to Miller’s Landing, street improvements that allow for foot traffic are long overdue and desperately needed.
According to Bowerman, this is a major pedestrian corridor. It connects two of Bend’s most picturesque locations.
According to Brad Tower, project engineer for the city of Bend, there will be further chances for public input during the design phase, even if the window for choosing between the one-way and two-way ideas has expired.
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(c) The Bulletin, Bend, Oregon, 2025.
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