Transportation Bond Oversight Committee – Call for Public Comment

From Bend Bikes Newsletter:

Call For Public Comment:
The Transportation Bond Oversight Committee will be considering a draft project list and two funding options for the first five years of the GO bond at its next meeting on October 5th from 4 pm – 6 pm. This meeting is one of the pivotal moments for our multimodal transportation future as the TBOC will be discussing which projects.should get constructed first! The short story — we want to see the TBOC accelerate and prioritize east-west connectivity. The three key documents are:

1) Transportation Draft 5-Year Capital Improvement Projects (proposed construction schedule and financing options)
2) Transportation GO Bond Fund Schedule (breaks out dollar amount for each project allocated to each year)
3) Transportation GO Bond Project Cut Sheets (detailed descriptions of each project)

These materials are hard to digest in a vacuum without further explanation and they lack context for what happens after these five years or how this plan aligns with the GO bond values of key routes for people who bike and walk, complete corridors, and east-west connectivity. We need more information, but until the TBOC meeting, here are our talking points for public comment to the TBOC:

The TBOC should not rush into finalizing the project list and if needed, consider an additional meeting to allow the public time to understand what is being proposed and provide meaningful input.
We would like to see the Midtown Crossings and Miller crossings accelerated and prioritized. People who walk, bike, and roll should not have to wait for construction to begin on the Midtown Crossings and Miller crossing (Aune Extension East) until 2025.
We would like to see the Olney Pedestrian and Bike Improvements added to the project list.
We support the Hawthorne overcrossing, but it should not come at the expense of safe crossings of 3rd Street at Franklin, Greenwood, Miller, and Olney.
We would like to see in both financing options, deferral of the Reed Market Corridor until later in the process. The Reed Market Corridor was always anticipated by CTAC (the architects of the Transportation System Plan and the GO bond project list) to be constructed late in the 10-year timeline. It is imperative to complete the other cross town connections to handle the disruption of this corridor when it is constructed.
We support the acceleration of the Bear Creek Road and 27th Street Improvements and Neff Corridor Improvements as identified in the larger financing option.
We would like to see the TBOC present to the City Council both the staff recommendation and a larger financing option to consider. If a larger financing option is feasible and there’s consensus that the vitality of our local economy is stronger than was anticipated when the bond measure was on the ballot, we support a larger financing option.
The TBOC and City Council appreciates hearing from new voices, so if you have been following us but have never submitted public comment, we invite you to do so now! Feel free to use our talking points and make them your own, or draft your own! If you need support in understanding the draft project list better, feel free to reach out to info@bendbikes.org with the small caveat that our entire Board will be at a Board retreat this weekend.

All comments should be sent to tboc@bendoregon.gov or you can provide your comment at the next TBOC meeting on October 5th during one of the public comment periods (4 pm or at 5:50 pm-ish)! Comments supporting a larger bond issuance — if feasible — should also be sent to the City Council at council@bendoregon.gov.