BEND, OR -- Bend's North Corridor improvement project won’t start affecting traffic on Highways 97 and 20 until next year, but drivers should start thinking now about how they can help reduce the inevitable congestion. 

Kim Curley, with Commute Options, says utility relocation work begins in January and work will impact nearly everyone who travels through the north end of Bend, “In late February, the west side of Cooley Road at Highway 20 will be closed for 70-plus days. So that traffic between Sisters, Tumalo, Bend will be needing to go around, and probably ending up on Highway 97 in some manner, which will be affecting the Redmond commuters.”

The $175 million project is expected to snarl traffic for close to two years. Oregon's Department of Transportation contracted with Commute Options for outreach efforts, to reduce congestion in the area. 

Curley says workers at businesses in and near Cascade Village are encouraged to carpool, work remotely or use public transit. “This isn’t just a ‘your neighborhood suffers.’ It’s ‘we’re all in this together.’ And if we could all just reduce the number of cars having to get through these difficult situations, we’re really hoping that can make a difference,” Curley tells KBND News. In an effort to reduce congestion, Commute Options is also working with Skyview, Lava Ridge and North Star schools, “We’re encouraging parents to get onto our School-pool system and maybe start reducing some of the trips that are coming in and out of the neighborhoods.” School-pool is a closed network system available to parents. Commute Options also offers the Get There Oregon program, a free online carpool matching platform available to the public. 

Curley says the overall goal is to reduce the number of vehicles traveling through detours and lane closures, “With more participation from employees, neighbors and through commuters, with fewer cars to be detoured things are not as painful as they could seem.”