BEND, OR -- Deschutes County Commissioners agreed Monday to a four-way agreement to extend Quail Road in Crooked River Ranch. County Roads Director Chris Doty says it’ll take the road all the way to Lower Bridge Way. "It’s been a goal of the Ranch, and a lot of folks for a lot of years – decades, actually – to get this secondary access punched through and get a new route in and out of the development, there."

At Monday's board meeting, Doty explained to Commissioners how the agreement works, "It’s a one-mile extension to Lower Bridge Road, so that will provide the secondary access. The road will be constructed by Jefferson County; they have obtained a loan from the Oregon Transportation Investment Board. That loan and its debt service will be serviced by the Crooked River Ranch Club and Maintenance association, so paying Jefferson County back for that." Deschutes County obtained the right-of-way from the Bureau of Land Management, for the extension, but says that's where the county's obligation ends.

Crooked River Ranch Association Board President Dave Palmer says the plan has been in the works for a long time, hitting snags when the BLM refused to provide access, "This project started literally decades ago. Although we don’t have the documents anymore, the people who have been there that long will tell us they started looking at this back in the mid-1980s when the ranch was changed from just Rural Recreational to Rural Residential." He acknowledges there has been some criticism over the need to pay Jefferson County back for the work. But, he says the project is necessary, "We estimate the annual increase to be less than $20 a year; so, $1.70+ a month." Currently, he says, property owners pay $430 a year.