The state has 640 acres on Bend’s southeast side that it wants to include in the expansion of the urban growth boundary. The property runs east along 27th street from Reed Market Road south to Ferguson. If approved, it has the potential to make the area the most unlivable spot east of the Cascades.
The reason is that 27th Street and Reed Market Road are failed roads ever since the city approved a number of developments along each road without any improvements to either roadway. Consequently, Reed Market is the most dangerous road in Bend and 27th Street from Reed Market north to Butler Market Road is becoming almost as dangerous. When the city calculates public safety and how much money to budget for it, it fails to consider highway safety, which affects more citizens than all of the city’s crime put together.
The state land in question has other problems including toxic soil from years of dumping on the site and volcanic caves, some of which house the threatened Thompson’s big-eared bat. For all these concerns, there is no reason why the city should ever consider adding this property to the urban growth boundary.
Until the city fixes Reed Market, including a bridge over the railroad, it should forget about adding more land or approving any more subdivisions in this area. If it does so, it will further erode property values and further enrage the citizens in southeast Bend.
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