The long-anticipated Bend North Corridor Project just got a new shot in the arm up to 50-million dollars approved by the Oregon Transportation Commission. ODOT’s Peter Murphy tells Central Oregon Daily News the exact amount has not been decided, but the allocation gives the project certainty. “We’ve got $133 million in the bank. We think we can get some help from the city and the county and we’ll add in whatever the OTC has done, whatever amount they have for us, that helps us get to the goal of $175 million.” The first phase of construction could begin later this year with a multi-lane roundabout planned for the Highway 20-Cooley Road intersection. Work will eventually move to Highway 97, between Cooley and Empire with the highway shifting east, and over Cooley Road.