The city of Bend is adjusting its plan for a roundabout at the intersection of Reed Market Road and 15th Street, to add space for drivers to wait for trains to pass.

However, the chairman of the Old Farm District Neighborhood Association said the changes do not go far enough. Chairman Henry Louke said Friday that the association plans to ask the City Council to do a new traffic study for the area, to determine whether conditions have changed since the last study in 2008. Louke said Friday that “doing a traffic study at the height of the recession might not reflect current reality.”

City workers presented the latest design change for the roundabout to the City Council on Wednesday night. It includes a longer waiting lane for northbound drivers on 15th Street, who plan to turn left onto Reed Market Road. The city made the changes after meeting recently with the neighborhood association’s board, said Bend Transportation Engineering Manager Nick Arnis.

Previously, the lane was roughly 125 feet long. It was extended to approximately 215 feet. “So we almost doubled it,” Arnis said. “It was short, we knew that going in.”

Arnis shared the plan with Louke and is trying to find out when the neighborhood association board would like to meet again with city staff. Earlier this winter, the city also added a second lane on the northeast corner of the roundabout in response to residents’ concerns, Arnis said.

Louke said some residents in the area want two lanes throughout the roundabout, because they believe that would better accommodate traffic when Reed Market Road is blocked by a passing train. This would be a long-term solution, Louke said.

“Some of the neighbors feel that the bond measure sort of promised us a full-build roundabout and that the city is incrementally making it smaller because their data doesn’t reflect the full build,” Louke said. “And when the train is there, people will clog the roundabout, impeding north-south travel.”

Louke said he appreciates efforts by city workers to keep residents informed about the project, but some residents continue to believe that the city promised a different project than it now plans to deliver. Louke said he heard from “quite a few people” that if the city had presented the current project design before the May 2011 vote on the bond measure to pay for this and other projects, the bond would not have passed.

Louke said a new traffic study would help resolve the situation.

“If it shows the same results as in 2008, we’ll be on board with what the city wants to do,” Louke said.