Traffic backups and detour signs are becoming more frequent around Bend as the weather gets warmer. Several projects around town are taking place all at once.
There are road closures on the intersection of Neff and Purcell. At the intersection of 15th Street and Wilson Avenue, a roundabout is under construction. A median construction project on NE 27th Street is adding to the backups.
“Traffic is getting as bad as the (expletive) traffic in Portland,” one driver said.
“I think traffic is really poopy and it shouldn’t be here. There’s no room for it,” another said.
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Some aren’t surprised by the road work, but they ask why the city is doing so many traffic related projects at once.
“They’re staggered as much as we can do right now to still meet the goal of delivering on what we have programmed for they year,” Engineering Director for the City of Bend Ryan Oster said.
Oster says most delays were weather related, causing overlap among the several projects.
The city says the new roundabout on 15th and Wilson is scheduled to open May 12. The opening of Neff and Purcell is coming in mid-summer. The median construction on 27th is almost complete, and could be done as early as Friday.
