The design process for the Bond-Reed Market-Brookswood Roundabout improvements project has begun! The attention that SCNA’s Board has brought to this is starting to pay off, but we still need you to weigh-in. The budget that City Council approved was only for a two-lane entrance and one-lane exit roundabout with the extra lane being a turn-only lane which doesn’t begin to handle the growth that SW Bend is seeing. SCNA has repeatedly asked for a full two-lane roundabout to assist with normal traffic and wildfire evacuation. The design process getting underway will heavily influence which approach is recommended to City Council. Additionally, SCNA’s proposed design recommends moving the crosswalks further back from the Roundabout to improve pedestrian and bike visibility and safety, as well as better aligning them with bus stops on Bond and Brookswood. Another suggestion to City engineers was to do one corner of the intersection at a time while keeping 3/4 of the Roundabout open to minimize traffic disruption. If you support any of these ideas, please participate and let them know.

You have two options to communicate with the City. First, the City will conduct a Community Open House to discuss this on Thursday October 29, 5:00-6:30 pm at the Hilton Garden Inn, 425 SW Bluff Drive. There will be a short presentation at 5:10 pm which will be repeated at 6:10 pm. Second, an online open house with a survey will be available on the City’s project page from October 27 to November 10.

Now is the most effective time in the process to comment. If you wait until later, your opinions will be a lot less likely to be heard. Visit the City’s project page for more information and to track the status of this project.