“How will we get there?” Transportation Forum
Bend 2030 Launches a New Civic Engagement Initiative
BEND, Feb. 25, 2015—With an estimated 30,000 more people—and their cars—moving to Bend in the next 10 years, we have to find better ways to get around. Already traffic is jamming up busy intersections for blocks and with little funding for roads, experts anticipate back-ups that could stretch for miles in sections of the city during peak traffic times.
We know we don’t want congestion, pollution, or to spend our time stuck in traffic, but these concerns may become our reality if we don’t plan well. So what is our collective transportation vision? Better public transit? More bike paths and sidewalks? Wider roads? And most importantly: How will we pay for it?
Bend 2030 wants your help as we tackle the transportation issue at a free public forum from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at Ponderosa Elementary School. This interactive event is part of the Bend 2030 Livability Series, which brings our community together to find solutions to our most important issues. Seniors, students, bike riders, daily commuters, families and everyone else is invited to join us as we shape Bend’s future together.
“How we respond today to Bend’s future needs will have an enormous impact on one of the big reasons people move here in the first place—livability,” said Jim Roberts, Bend 2030 Transportation Forum committee member and Vice-Chair, City of Bend Transportation Safety Advisory Committee. “Traffic impacts our livability every hour of every day. This forum will let our community help shape traffic solutions that provide the livability we want, the convenience we desire and the safety we all need.”
Attendees of the April 11 forum will get a firsthand look at just how much our city is poised to grow in the coming years. They’ll hear about possible solutions to alleviating traffic concerns and the options for funding those solutions such as a gas tax, utility fee and transit-funding district. Most importantly, attendees will have a say in Bend 2030’s recommendations to decision-makers on the right way to move ahead on our transportation issues.
To ensure broad community involvement in this initiative Bend 2030 created the Transportation Forum Committee, a group made up made of Bend residents, Bend 2030 board members and representatives from various transportation-related organizations. This group is advised on technical matters by city, county, and regional government representatives involved in transportation to help us make sure we have all the information we need to lead this critical conversation. This team will assist in the development of a subsequent survey and report on community-supported recommendations to be delivered to decision-makers in the region later this summer.
Registration is required for the free Transportation Forum on April 11. Sign up at bend2030transportation.bpt.me, or bend2030.org
Funding for the Bend 2030 Livability Series is provided by the generous support of the Bend 2030 Leadership Alliance: BendBroadband, Bend Park and Recreation District, Brooks Resources, Central Oregon Community College, the City of Bend, Deschutes Brewery, Oregon State University-Cascades, St. Charles Health System, U.S. Forest Service, and Harcourt The Garner Group/Sunwest Builders/NorthWest Crossing. Funding for the Transportation Forum is also provided by Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council.
For more information, contact: Marika Yuma, Project Manager
Email: acceleratebend@gmail.com
Cell: 541-390-2832
Website: bend2030.org
Facebook: Facebook.com/bend2030
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