BEND, OR -- They were dancing in the streets - almost literally - in southwest Bend Thursday afternoon, celebrating the opening of the new Brookswood Roundabout. The project blocked Brookswood Boulevard all summer long.
Peter Murphy of the Oregon Department of Transportation was at yesterday’s celebration and told KBND News ODOT had hoped the project would be done by the time school started. “So here we are, Thursday afternoon, four o-clock and it’s open. We said it would be open by the time schools starts, and by gosh, we’re even ahead of that schedule.”
He added, “Getting this roundabout open is just part of the bigger project, getting the Murphy Extension back across to the other side of town. Collectively, it’s all about trying to open up this part of town a little bit and making it better for people to get across town.”
The next phase, constructing the Murphy Road extension from Brookswood to Highway 97, should be completed by mid-October.
