BEND, OR -- Deschutes County’s Road Department it’s updating the Transportation System Plan for projects scheduled through 2040. "Things like intersection improvements, roundabouts in rural county intersections, road segments that will be improved, bike and pedestrian improvements, bridges, general safety projects," Says Director Chris Doty, "And then there’s a component in there as well that includes improvements to the state highway system where a county road connects to it."

The projects total around $300 million, including a new intersection at Highway 97 and Quarry, south of Redmond. "Growth’s going to happen mostly through development of the cities. But sometimes the transportation system needs to extend out and we need to work with the cities to do that. And the Quarry project is an example of that - very, very important to the city of Redmond." He adds, "There are some that I think you could consider aspirational, like the Quarry Avenue interchange," Doty tells KBND News, "Like the interchange on the south end of Deschutes River Woods that’s proposed to connect Highway 97 across from the High Desert Museum. But, for the most part, what we’ve put out, there is, I would say, a reasonably fundable list of projects based on the revenue we have in place today and what we see as logical increases that will occur over time." Advancement of those two projects are dependent on state funding, but Doty says most of the others are from county funds and anticipated grants. 

A virtual open house is available on the county’s website, including an interactive map of all projects planned through 2040, "You can zoom in around where you live or areas of interest and see what’s been planned." Feedback will be accepted through December 31. Doty says the plan should be finalized by County Commissioners early next year.