BEND — The Oregon Department of Transportation’s $177 million north corridor project in Bend is a reworking of one of the busiest, most congested sections of U.S. Highway 97, and it’s less than a year away from being finished.

The project will create a new section of the highway near Bend’s northern boundary beginning at Empire Avenue, skirting businesses and shopping centers and reconnecting with the existing Highway 97 at Cooley Road. 

Roughly 40,000 vehicles pass through the stretch of highway everyday, according to 2022 data from ODOT. That number is likely to increase over time with the arrival of new commercial businesses, including a Costco Wholesale with a gas station and car wash and likely a Goodwill thrift store. Hundreds of housing units are also expected to develop in the area.  

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The project has been decades in the making experiencing its share of setbacks along the way, but modernization and safety improvements have remained the overall objective. 

“This project — no matter how you want to use the north end of Bend or how you want to access it — it’s going to make transportation for everyone safer and easier and more efficient,” said Kacey Davey, an ODOT spokesperson.

From freight carriers to commuters to shoppers to cyclists, the project intends to benefit all those who use this part of Bend’s transportation system, she said.

The project includes two new roundabouts on U.S. Highway 20 fitted with pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, which were completed ahead of schedule and opened to traffic in the fall.

“We actually had bike users on there almost immediately,” said Omar Ahmed, the project area manager for the department. 

Local bike commuters and cyclists have previously criticized the project for its lack of connection to the rest of the city. 

The rest of the project — the Highway 97 portion — is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024.

Once the project is complete, speed limits on the new section of the highway will remain at 45 mph to start remaining consistent with the rest of the Bend Parkway, Davey said. However, once the project is finished the department plans to reevaluate the speed limit for the new area based on traffic speeds.

Around $123 million of the project has been spent to date, according to project data. Funding came from a combination of federal, state and local sources.

ODOT has also inputted infrastructure in the area during construction as a part of a contract with the city of Bend.

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Currently, crews are working on building bridges and retaining walls and excavation. 

Detours remain in place on Highway 97, which shifted traffic to the west of the highway between Empire Avenue and Grandview Drive. ODOT crews installed reflectors on that stretch of road after complaints from drivers who weren’t able to see the lane dividers.