BEND, OR -- A massive road project in southeast Bend is supposed to improve safety and east-west connectivity. But after a year and a half of construction, more closures are coming to the Wilson Avenue Corridor. Eventually, Wilson will be wider with modernized signals and bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements. 

The city’s Senior Project Engineer Sinclair Burr says between Fourth and Centennial, "The majority of the city’s work is complete. Right now, we’re paving this week. We’ll have some additional landscaping and cleanup work over the next few weeks. But, the bottom line is that we’re not opening that up to traffic, here, in the near-term." He tells KBND News, "We still have work around Fourth and Fifth, particularly with some franchise utilities, to get their work done in there." And crews will soon move into the next phase, "We’re moving kind of towards the western-most portion of the project, between Second and Fourth Street."

Burr says the utility work and others means the westbound closure must expand to between Ninth Street and Hill, beginning November sixth, "We’ll be workin on, primarily, some underground utilities, here in the near-term, in the segment between Second and Fourth Street; so waterline, stormwater. And then, there’s a large wall at the southwest corner of Second and Wilson that we have to move out towards the south, in order to widen out the road for the improvements that we’re making."

Upcoming work also includes replacing the 50-year-old signal at Third Street that’s been hit by several trucks. Burr says it's very difficult to do if traffic is allowed full access; although, Third Street will remain open. The new signal will be "more resilient." Burr says, "We’re moving the signal poles back away from the roadway. The idea is that they won’t get hit." 

The Westbound closure is expected to last through next June. The work is paid for by the General Obligation (GO) bond approved by Bend voters in 2020. Visit the city's Project Page for more details.