Reed Market Roundabout
Our February Survey on transportation issues received 249 responses. (See summary here.) The results showed the top issues for Southern Crossing to be traffic congestion and emergency access. When asked where, the top responses were Reed Market Road and Bond St.-Brookswood Blvd. The SCNA Board has adopted the Bond-Reed Market-Brookswood Roundabout as our top issue in 2026.
In early October 2025, the City Council met to discuss the 5-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP). Because of SCNA’s efforts, they voted to move the Roundabout project forward with design starting in July 2026 and construction in the 2027-2028 timeframe. They also took a vote on whether to stay with the current construction budget for a “hybrid” design or whether to consider a full 2-lane roundabout. In a split decision, they voted for the lower cost “hybrid.”
At the SCNA General Meeting in October 2025, the Board presented data showing a more than DOUBLING of residential units (homes and apartments) in Southern Crossing in the near future along with adding 4 hotels. The Board also pointed out that growth in Bend drives more vehicles into SCNA to visit the Old Mill, the Amphitheater, the river parks, and to connect to Cascade Lakes Highway and the mountains.
City Engineer Ryan Oster presented the hybrid design to SCNA members. Those attending were quite vocal in letting him know that SCNA would like a better design that could handle not only today’s but also future traffic. The crowd was also concerned about emergency evacuations in the event of a wildfire, since Reed Market is a Deschutes County evacuation route. (See map here.)
Our counter proposal is for a full 2-lane roundabout. This design will handle significantly more traffic in a more efficient way. It should reduce backups, which should also reduce neighborhood cut-through traffic. Additionally, the road crossing will be much safer for pedestrians and cyclist than the current layout or the hybrid design. First, it moves the crosswalks further back from the roundabout where drivers are still able to notice both sides of the road. For crosswalks near a roundabout, drivers tend to focus on vehicles to their left in the roundabout, and thus miss seeing people on their right. (This study has further details.) Second, this design adds barriers in the middle that people can hide behind in the event of an errant vehicle. Third, it uses a road hump at the crosswalk to slow traffic down and make the crosswalk more noticeable.
Roundabout Related Resources
- If a wind-driven wildfire started on the West or Southwest side of Bend, a traffic jam could trap people in cars, much like the 2023 fires on the island of Maui. Here is the map of Deschutes County evacuation routes.
- For more about the broader plans for the Reed Market corridor, please download ODOT’s study US 97 at Reed Market Road Operations and Safety Study - Final Report.
Reed Market Road Near US 97 Center Lane Proposal
A few years back, SCNA requested that a safer pedestrian and cyclist crossing be installed at Silver Lake Blvd and Reed Market Road. Also, Silver Lake Blvd. is part of a low-stress biking and walking path designed to make it easier to get around town not in a car. The City put this in the Neighborhood Street Safety Program budget. The design that was presented in July of 2025 was for an upgraded crossing at Chamberlain St and paving a section of Chamberlain St. The SCNA Board opposed that design for a variety of reasons, and City Council voted to set it aside.
SCNA is proposing a more comprehensive solution now that not only addresses the crossing of Reed Market Road but also several issues with Reed Market Road just west of US 97. In this image you can see the center of Reed Market has a median or cement curbs on the side of the center turn lane. Additionally, you can see the current Chamberlain St. crosswalk. It has a hill to the west that makes it hard for eastbound drivers to see. The traffic to the neighborhoods is mostly forced to use Silver Lake for entering and exiting.
Below is a proposed center turn lane along with a crosswalk at Silver Lake Blvd.
- Left turns both into and out of the neighborhoods onto busy Reed Market will be easier with a center turn lane.
- Emergency responders can bypass traffic back-ups using the center lane, reducing response times.
- During an emergency, such as a wildfire evacuation, the center lane can be used as a second lane heading to US 97 while emergency personnel use the westbound lane to respond to the situation.
- Neighborhood traffic will spread more evenly between Chamberlain St. and Silver Lake Blvd. making the Silver Lake intersection less busy and safer.
- A Silver Lake crosswalk would be much more visible to drivers and therefore safer. Additionally, with its proximity to the light at US 97, a button could be added for pedestrians and cyclist to trigger a red light which would slow or stop most of the traffic.
These are resources for our neighbors to provide insight into ongoing projects within the City of Bend that impact SCNA.
FIle a City Complaint or Report with Bend Works
Allows you to report a variety of non-emergency issues around town, such as road and sidewalk related problems, water/sewer issues, vegetation, graffiti, non-emergency police and fire requests, and more. Additionally, you can track the status of your requests, and see other requests that have been submitted.
The Neighborhood Street Safety Program (NSSP) is a new program for small-scale, residential street projects to address pedestrian and bicycle safety, safe routes to school, speeding, intersection control and crossings, and other residential street traffic safety related issues.
In the 2019-2021 biennial budget, the City Council approved $800,000 to fund the program. Last fall, the City received more than 360 applications for projects all across Bend (Map Tab 1). These projects were then reviewed and prioritized by the Neighborhood Associations (NAs) in which they were located. Each NA submitted its top one or two projects for advancement to the NLA, which resulted in a list of 25 priority projects (Map Tab 2).
City staff packaged these 25 projects with additional details such as demographic data, crash data and cost information and provided this to the NLA in December. NLA representatives ranked their top 15 projects, considering safety and geographic equity. The results of the rankings highlighted eight top-priority projects – all from different neighborhoods - that addressed traffic flow and safety in neighborhoods (Map Tab 3).
These eight projects will now move into design and outreach. In May 2020, the NLA will revisit the projects for a final stamp of approval.
