Even more significantly, the 14th Street event represents the completion of the 2011 voter-approved $30 million General Obligation (G.O.) Bond project. In May of 2011, voters passed the bond for street improvements throughout Bend. This allowed the City to issue up to $30 million to upgrade major street corridors and intersections. Intersections were selected primarily because of the severity and types of crashes occurring. Improvements benefitting all modes of travel were distributed all over the city.

Projects included:

• Reed Market Road, rebuilt from Third Street to 27th Street; the largest project, it includes updated three-lane roads with bike lanes and sidewalks and a multi-lane roundabout at 15th Street
• 27th Street, repaved in conjunction with the Southeast Interceptor sewer project
• New roundabouts at Brookswood Boulevard and Powers Road, Simpson Avenue Mount Washington Drive, and 18th Street and Empire Avenue

The 14th Street Corridor, getting completed in conjunction with the celebration, is the final project funded by the G.O. Bond. The bond funded work between Simpson and Galveston avenues but the City Council approved funding to extend the project north to Newport.
 
“These G.O. Bond projects have been a great success. Stats show that crashes have decreased, meaning safety has improved, at the intersections rebuilt into roundabouts with the bond funding,” said Mayor Casey Roats. “The work has benefitted all kinds of transportation system users – drivers, cyclists, walkers – all across the city.”
 
“This shows what we can do when the community and the City work together to solve our transportation challenges,” said Roats.
 
More project information:
 
www.bendoregon.gov/14thStreet
 
City of Bend encourages fall water conservation
 
The City of Bend is encouraging all citizens to reduce their landscape irrigation schedules this fall as temperatures decline.  
 
“This is the time of year when many of us tend to over-irrigate,” said Mike Buettner, Water Conservation Program Manager for the City of Bend. “Landscape water requirements really start to drop off once nighttime temperatures get into the low 50s, so this is the perfect time to reduce programmed irrigation runtimes as we head into fall.”
 
The City’s WaterWise Program recommends regular irrigation schedule adjustments throughout the growing season as temperatures and landscape water requirements fluctuate.
 
“In general, landscapes in early spring and late fall need about half the water they require during the peak summer months of July and August,” said Buettner.
 
The City encourages irrigation system owners to also inspect their systems for leaks and overspray onto streets and sidewalks.
 
“We see a lot of landscapes that have sprinklers right up to the street curb that water the street each time the system runs,” said Buettner. “The cause can be as minor as the sprinkler leaning a few degrees one way or the other. Taking the time to straighten these benefits everyone – the customer saves water by keeping it in the landscape, water isn’t wasted, and pedestrians and bicyclists don’t have to navigate a potentially slippery situation.”
 
The City has a variety of educational resources to help owners create beautiful landscapes and efficient irrigation systems at www.waterwisetips.org, including three new guides. The WaterWise Landscape Guide, Irrigation Guide and Streetscape Guide can help water customers decrease the amount of water used for landscape irrigation in Bend.