The Bend Bikeway project will make improvements to enhance the safety and enjoyment of walking and biking for everyone in our community. The Bikeway includes two separate components:

• The SE 9th Street project focuses on constructing a shared-use path between Reed Market Road and Wilson Avenue, with a budget of $1.15 million.
• A North-South and East-West route will utilize a combination of existing improvements and ongoing City plans to create connected and protected routes, with a budget of $2.37 million.

These segments take advantage of ongoing City projects, connecting pathways and making them safer for people walking and biking between neighborhoods, schools, places of work, parks and trails across town. The Bend Bikeway is just one of many improvements planned to ultimately develop the Transportation System Plan network of key walking and bicycle routes that aim to offer a comfortable commuting and recreational experience for users of all ages.

• Bend Bikeway Fact Sheet

The timing of the Bikeway construction will depend upon the completion of other ongoing private and public projects, with most of the routes expected to be complete by fall 2025.

Improvements made with this project will include shared use/protected paths, neighborhood greenways, intersection enhancements, accessibility enhancements (such as sidewalks, safe crossings, and curb ramps) and signage. A map showing which types of improvement will be targeted for each segment of the routes is shown below. The exact locations of improvements along these segments are still to be determined.

Open House Goals

The City is proud to share initial design efforts and welcomes community feedback that will help shape Bend’s biking and walking future!

To help us make decisions, the City wants to hear about locations where you currently feel unsafe along these routes, your use of the routes and what design elements you think should be prioritized with the available funding. There are two separate tools available at this online open house for you to provide feedback; the Bend Bikeway Public Feedback Map tool and the Bend Bikeway Open House Survey. These public engagement opportunities can be accessed at the bottom of this Online Open House page.

Initial design efforts have been focused on segments where shared use/protected paths are being considered. Shared use/protected paths offer users a high level of comfort, however, these improvements also come at a high cost. As such, shared use/protected paths are only being considered along the highest volume areas of the routes. The following sections outline what types of shared use/protected paths improvements are being considered along 9th Street (Reed Market Road to Wilson Avenue), Franklin Avenue (5th Street to 8th Street) and Bear Creek Road (15th Street to Cessna Drive).

Click on Tabs below to browse exhibits and share feedback.

Shared Use Path (also called Protected Path) 

A shared use/protected path provides a travel area separate from motorized traffic for people walking, biking and rolling.

Shared use paths can provide a low-stress experience for users using the network for transportation or recreation. Shared use paths are expected to be added to some of the key routes as part of this project. 

Photo: People walking on a shared use path. 

Neighborhood Greenway 

Greenways are low-traffic volume and low-speed streets oriented to people walking, biking or rolling while still allowing access by cars. Greenways provide a low-stress network of streets that offer a continuous and direct route. Greenways typically include the use of multiple safety tools, including curb extensions, pavement markings, speed humps, wayfinding and or traffic diverters to keep speeds slow and volumes low. 

Photo: A group of kids riding bikes on a street in a neighborhood.

Traffic Diverter 

Traffic Diverters physically discourage traffic from access. This traffic volume control tool reduces the amount of cut-through traffic on a street. Diverters can be designed to allow some types of traffic, such as emergency vehicles and people walking, biking or rolling, to still access the street. They can function as safety islands and are designed for the specific needs of the street. 

Photo: A group of people riding bicycles in the street with a traffic island.

Key Route

Key Route is a term from the Bend Transportation System Plan that means the route is designed to be “low stress” for pedestrians and bicyclists, to provide safe and appealing connections to schools, parks, and other destinations, as well as for cross-City travel. Examples include off street multi-use paths, buffered, separated, raised and/or painted bike lanes and widened sidewalks. 

Low Stress

The preferred alternative for 9th Street is chosen based on practical considerations to create a safe and comfortable experience for everyone.

Key points include:

• Selection of the west side minimizes conflicts with driveways, making it safer for pedestrians, bikers, and drivers alike.
• Constraints of the railroad, existing utility poles, and grade differences limit widening possibilities the west side choice aligns most with the available project budget of $1.15 million.
• A commitment to minimizing the environmental impact by keeping the shared use path’s footprint small by using a portion of the existing bike lane/shoulder.
• Prioritizing easy access for all, the plan emphasizes connectivity and allows for potential enhancements like a future sidewalk on the east side.

We're working on making improvements near NE Franklin Avenue from 5th Street to 8th Street to provide a connection to the Coyner Trail. This segment provides an important connection between the Bikeway’s North-South and East-West routes. We are considering two alternatives, each bringing unique improvements to NE Franklin Avenue. The first alternative (Alternative A) includes two variations (A1 and A2).

Alternative A 

Alternative A1: Neighborhood Greenway

Estimated segment cost of $300,000 (not including the potentially substantial cost of extending the Midtown Crossing Project’s treatment between 5th Street and 6th Street)

Alternative A prioritizes moving walking and biking routes to quieter streets, connecting to key destinations efficiently. This option focuses on quick and cost-effective enhancements using markings, signs, and crossings while keeping the road size unchanged. 

• Moves the walking and biking route to lower traffic volume streets.
• Connects to Juniper Park and Bend High School more easily.
• Quick and cost-effective implementation with a focus on pavement markings, signs and crossing improvements.
• Maintains existing road size, minimizing impact on surroundings.
• Relies on a continuation of Midtown Crossing Project’s NE Franklin Avenue treatment from 5th Street to 6th Street which could lead to overall higher cost and longer implementation time.

Alternative A2: Shared-Use Path

• Connects Juniper Park and Bend High School more easily.
• Enhances comfort and safety for people walking and biking by providing dedicated paths on 6th Street.
• Costs are reasonable but more expensive than Alternative A1: Neighborhood Greenways.
• Requires no extra space on 6th Street and fits within existing hardscape/landscape areas.
• Relies on a continuation of Midtown Crossing Project’s NE Franklin Avenue treatment from 5th Street to 6th Street which could lead to overall higher cost and longer implementation time.

Alternative B: Raised/Protected Bike Lane

• Introduces a raised and separated bike lane on NE Franklin Avenue to better protect people walking, biking and rolling. 
• Maintains existing traffic patterns and is consistent with the Transportation System Plan’s key routes.
• Higher cost due to added protection measures on a busier street. 
• Requires a bit more space than existing.
• Preserves the option for a future full “build-out” scenario, where the south side of the road (which has more costly existing constraints compared to the north side) could eventually have improvements that mimic what is proposed currently on the north side of the road.

We’re improving NE Bear Creek Road from NE Alpenview Lane to SE Cessna Drive. This segment provides an extension of shared use paths delivered by the General Obligation (GO) Bond’s Bear Creek and 27th Street Improvements project, to the existing Larkspur Trail. This segment will provide an important connection along the east-west route.

Improvements along this segment will match what is being developed by the Bear Creek and 27th Street project to maximize route consistency.

• The north side sidewalk will convert into a shared use path of varied widths for people walking, biking, and rolling.
• No roadway widening is necessary, allowing a potential future full “build-out” with protected walk/bike facilities on the south side.

The open house survey and feedback map are closed.

The interactive feedback map and community survey closed March 6, 2024.

Thank you for taking the time to help shape the Bend Bikeway project! Key takeaways from this round of public engagement include:

• The community desires shared streets to offer a higher level of service than the existing neighborhood greenway routes by further limiting vehicle speeds and volumes and to offer more protection than “just paint” to set a better baseline for Bend’s Bikeways that would lead to increased use.
  • The project team has identified locations for traffic diverters that would further reduce vehicle traffic on existing neighborhood greenways. We will share these plans with the Neighborhood Districts to ensure the proposed plans fit into their respective neighborhoods.
• Many prefer routes that separate users from vehicle traffic to the maximum extent possible while also creating the most direct routes, noting that these improvements are generally seen as being worth the added costs and potential impacts to adjacent properties.
  • Due to this feedback, the City has selected a preferred Franklin Avenue (from 5^th Street to 8^th Street) design alternative that was not presented during this open house event but better meets the goals of the project. This alternative can be seen on page 8 of this presentation. It considers separated bike and pedestrian facilities on each side of the road.
  • The City has also identified two locations where additional shared-use paths would help meet the goal of this project to the community’s expectation; however, these routes are currently outside of the project’s approved scope of work.
• People want bike infrastructure that is better maintained, landscaped and lit.
  • The City will strive to incorporate landscaping and illumination elements into the design of this project to the extent possible given the existing constraints to ensure improvements are safe and fit within the aesthetic of their surroundings.
• This open house event helped the City collect information about locations along the Bend Bikeway routes where people feel unsafe.
  • The project team will share plans to make improvements at select locations with the Neighborhood Districts, however funding limitations will also impact the extent of unsafe locations that can be treated with this project.
• Open house attendees were excited about new bike infrastructure the City is planning but is not sure how all the planned projects would be tied together, or when a project would be constructed along their daily routes.
  • The City is still working to develop the entire network of Key Bicycling and Walking Routes. 
  • The bond dashboard is available to track how the City is developing these Key Bicycling and Walking Routes.
• During the open house period, the project team provided an overview of the project to the Council's Community Building Subcommittee at the February 28, 2024 meeting.
  • A recording of this presentation can be found here and the presentation overviews the shared-use path concepts that were shown at the open house, the new Franklin alternative that was not shown at the open house, examples concepts being considered for new Neighborhood Greenway / shared street corridors, and a few of the possible design contract additions. The presentation also provides an updated overview of the project’s schedule and financial resources.

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Thanks for participating in this open house!