Bend ends Reed Market Road fixes

Bend also scuttles all road improvements to the Murphy Road corridor.

In fact, the city has decided to forego all desperately needed road improvements so that all available money goes into Juniper Ridge.

The daily paper reports that the city and the state have reached an agreement on traffic problems at Cooley Road and Highway 97 that allows the city to continue developing its Juniper Ridge business park on Bend's north end.

The city, though, must cough up $30 million in phases and the city is $17 million in debt.

Do the math.

Also, the city continues to deplete its coffers while giving fee breaks to builders and developers. Better get out the calculator to total up the debts.

Of course, Bend had no intention of ever fixing Reed Market. They just held focus group meetings to come up with plans that will always remain mere plans. The city sends hapless engineers to neighborhood association meetings to explain the plans knowing full well there is no money to ever improve the roadway.

Same thing for Murphy Road. All talk, no action.

The city's solutions to these road crises is to approve more development in these areas.

Not much of a solution.

In fact, as the city sinks more money into Juniper Ridge it is making the rest of Bend less livable.

Bend tries to attract businesses by touting its livability. Well, city officials are killing the goose that laid the golden egg. (Actually, it's the park district that's gassing geese, but that's another story.)

The only saving grace to all of this is that the housing slump will continue here for quite some time. Also, businesses won't be moving to Juniper Ridge, but rather to China or India.

Meanwhile, drivers on Reed Market have to dodge potholes all along the route.

The city can't even patch potholes, meaning that it can't do much of anything for its citizens.