After about three months of construction, the 15th Street and Wilson Avenue intersection in Bend is now a completed roundabout. It replaces the intersection where making left turns off Wilson were often a dangerous struggle.
Southeast Bendites told us they are happy the project is done. Lani Gibson, who relies on the bus, said she has not been able to use it since the construction began.
“It’ll be such a change to get our bus stop back,” Gibson said. “It’ll be a big change in our life and financially, it’ll help both of us very much.”
Now that the construction is over, Gibson will have her bus back.
“It has caused some hardships, but I guess everything is going to be pretty good after today,” Joe Nelson, another Southeast Bend resident said.
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However, more construction for Wilson Avenue is on the way. The westbound lane on Wilson between 4th and 9th Street will be closed starting Monday or Tuesday.
“You’ll have to go down to Reed Market and take it over to 3rd Street there,” Senior Project Engineer for the City of Bend Sinclair Burr said. “We’re putting in bike lanes, sidewalks, a new waterline and a lot of new storm infrastructure.”
Just a few blocks east, Pettigrew Road will also close beginning Monday.
“There’s a lot of sewer work,” Burr said. “They are trying to get people from there septic systems over to our sewer system and then that closure will extend through the fall.”
Nelson summed up how he felt about the road construction with: “Just go ahead and get it done.”
