​The SWNA board of directors reviewed 26 eligible applications for the Neighborhood Street Safety Program. The board grouped ten of the proposals into 2 projects to recommend to the NLA for their consideration for funding.

The first, Safe Routes to School, would address the need for effective crosswalks to protect children along Mt. Washington at Polarstar, Clearwater, and Hosmer Lake Dr., as well as at York & Lolo. 

The second, Missing Sidewalks, would fill gaps needed to keep children from having to walk in the street at three locations: the corner of Celilo & Shevlin Crest; in front of 2445 Marken; and on the west side of Mt. Washington from Shevlin Park Rd. to Shields. 

The board gave priority to high-traffic-volume locations with high risk to more-vulnerable pedestrians (like school children). Projects on local streets with fewer pedestrians and vehicles, while considered important and worthy of attention, ranked lower. This included Flagline Dr., Skyline Ranch Rd., Crossing Dr., Lemhi Pass Dr., and Monterey Pines Dr.

The Neighborhood Leadership Alliance (a committee reporting to the City Council) will review the two projects submitted by each of the 13 neighborhood associations and recommend finalists for funding. The SWNA projects are not guaranteed to be funded.

All of the applications submitted this year will be retained for future consideration. Thanks to everyone who cared enough and took the time to submit an application. The City received a total of 362 proposals, indicating that there are local street safety issues throughout the city that concern residents.

The City has launched a one-minute survey that allows the community an opportunity to help prioritize the most-desired safe travel and traffic improvement projects. To participate in the survey, click here.

While some transportation projects are funded, many important needs aren’t. At a special Council meeting on Sept. 30th, all Councilors said they supported a potential bond measure in May of 2020 as part of a longer-term transportation funding strategy.
 
The Citywide Transportation Advisory Committee, which is helping Bend update its long range transportation plan, recently sorted a long list of transportation infrastructure projects into near-term (1-10 years), mid-term (11-15 years), and long-term (16-20 years) categories.

Community input from this 1-minute survey will further help prioritize projects in the near-term category. The City will share the results of the survey with Bend’s policymakers as they consider options for a bond measure.
 
Visit www.bendoregon.gov/safe-travel for more information.
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As of Sept. 20th (the closing date), there have been 36 applications submitted to address street safety issues in the Summit West neighborhood. All together, 362 applications have been submitted city-wide, suggesting that citizens see lots of opportunities to improve safety on our streets.

To see a map and list of the applications on the City's web site, click here.

​Here's a map of the locations addressed by the proposals within Summit West:

The city has reviewed the applications to be sure they meet the eligibility requirements and that a particular project shouldn't be covered under another city program. Two projects were determined to be ineligible, while an additional five were transferred to other city programs for attention.

​On Monday, October 7th, the SWNA board will meet to select two projects for referral to the Neighborhood Leadership Alliance (a standing committee of the city council). The meeting will be at Summit High School in the Commons Room from 7:00 - 9:00 pm.

Traffic safety has been one of the most talked about issues in Summit West. Now, there's a way to do something about it. The City has set up a new program to allow residents to nominate problem areas for attention.

This is a new program for small-scale, local, residential street projects to address pedestrian and bicycle safety, safe routes to school, speeding, intersection control and crossings, and other local street traffic safety-related issues. 

The Neighborhood Street Safety Program website is now live! Click through to learn more about the program, view program documents and review informational resources. Beginning Aug. 5th, links will be available to fill out the online application or download a paper application.

Starting the week of July 22, the City will begin converting over 2,000 existing public street lights to 3,000 Kelvin energy-efficient, light-emitting diode (LED) fixtures to reduce the City’s energy costs, maintenance costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

The project replaces existing high pressure sodium street light fixtures, and is one of several Strategic Energy Management projects happening in 2019-2021 to help achieve the City Council Climate Action Goals.

The LED conversion project is scheduled from July to December 2019. Work activity will take place during weekdays and may include weekends. Work hours will generally be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., targeting evening hours for arterial and collector streets.

Multiple crews will be working to complete an estimated 30 to 40 fixture conversions per day, taking 20 to 30 minutes per light. Work will be performed in a moving operation that may require temporary traffic lane restrictions.

Hydro Flask, at 525 NW York Dr, has requested a variance from the Bend noise ordinance for a 10-Year Party on August 9th.  The event would start at 4:00 pm and end at 10:00 pm. They have requested a decibel level of 85 dBA (the maximum allowed). (The normal limit is 65 dBA in residential zones.) The city manager takes comments from neighbors who may be affected into account when determining an appropriate decibel level for a variance. See the attached application for more information.

[Analysis: For comparison, 85 dBA is roughly twice as loud as TV-audio in your living room. It takes 600' to 1,200' from the source for concert music to drop to a level of 85 dBA, depending on sound levels at the stage. In this case, if the stage faces north, east, or south, homes in NWX near Clearwater & Fremont, those in Skyliner Summit on Outlook Vista, and those in The Reserve near Lakemont & Champanelle may experience sound levels above 85 dBA. If the stage faced west and a sound-dampening curtain were used behind the stage, it is unlikely that homes in the area would hear anything, even with a limit of 85 dBA. Most events Downtown, in Drake Park, and in Northwest Crossing that receive variances, do so at a level of 75 or 80 dBA.]

Comments should be directed to Eric King, City Manager, at eking@bendoregon.gov and Joshua Romero, Community Relations Manager, at jromero@bendoregon.gov.

The City will hold a public hearing on proposed fee changes at 7 p.m. on June 19 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 710 NW Wall Street, Bend. The proposed fee changes will be effective July 1, 2019.

Increases are proposed for System Development Charges, ambulance charges (the phase-in of fee increases approved by Council in 2017), utility fees (stormwater 3%, water 1%, sewer 6%), and building and planning development fees (3%).

To see the agenda for the Council meeting for more information, click here.

The City is planning to pair Police officers and Fire inspectors for an Illegal Fireworks Task Force to respond exclusively to illegal fireworks calls in late June and early July. The task force will patrol areas where data have shown a higher use of illegal fireworks.

The task force, being scheduled for the nights of June 27 and 28 and July 3, 5 and 6, will focus on problematic areas identified by data, but will also respond to calls as able.

The City Council prioritized increasing illegal fireworks enforcement activities as part of a comprehensive wildfire resilience plan.

Fireworks that explode, fly more than 12 inches in the air or move laterally more than six feet are illegal to possess and use in Oregon.

​Those who witness the use of illegal fireworks can call non-emergency dispatch at 541-693-6911. Please do not call 911 to report fireworks unless there is a confirmed fire or injury.

The City is asking residents to participate in a brief online survey about transportation. The survey will be available until July 19th. To access the survey: click here.

The City of Bend is considering making strategic investments to reduce traffic congestion and improve the safety of neighborhood streets. These improvements could require an increase in local taxes or fees. Nothing has been decided yet – there will be many opportunities to engage in community discussions in the coming months.

The online survey complements and supplements a statistically valid phone survey that was recently conducted, and is one of many inputs that the City is taking as it updates the transportation system plan. To learn more about what’s going on with Bend's Transportation Plan visit www.bendoregon.gov/tsp.