A paved, reconfigured parking lot is coming to Phil’s Trailhead — but other projects along Skyliners Road must be done first, says a U.S. Forest Service official.

The Forest Service was planning a makeover this year for the main entrance to the Phil’s Trail system, the popular web of mountain bike trails, but now the project will likely be next year, said Amy Tinderholt, recreation team leader for the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest. “We are waiting on the waterline project,” she said.

The 10-mile waterline is part of Bend’s planned $68 million Bridge Creek water supply project.

That project will replace aging pipes and other equipment that bring water to Bend and install a water treatment facility. The system supplies about half the city’s water supply. The new pipes would run under Tumalo Falls and Skyliners roads. Following legal challenges of a permit last year, the Forest Service last week released an environmental report for the waterline project. In it, the Forest Service proposed issuing the city a new permit for the construction.

The permit likely won’t be finalized until July, following a monthlong window for public comment and additional agency review, Rod Bonacker, special projects coordinator for the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District, told The Bulletin last week.

The city might begin to install the pipeline under Skyliners Road later this year, although the work schedule is not set at this point. The city’s goal is to install a section of new pipeline under Skyliners Road by 2014, when Deschutes County plans to rebuild the road in time to qualify for federal funding. The city and Forest Service have said replacing the waterlines would take about eight months.

The Forest Service aims to have construction at Phil’s Trailhead occur at the same time as the county road project so the two agencies could possibly use some of the same road crews and equipment. Along with laying asphalt at Phil’s Trailhead, the agency plans to widen and repave a half-mile stretch of the road leading from Skyliners to the trailhead.

Once paved with asphalt, Phil’s Trailhead will have 76 parking spots, an informational kiosk and a new double vault toilet, according to a Forest Service report released last April. The current gravel design has 72 spots and 52 overflow spaces. The new parking lot won’t have any overflow parking.

Construction at Phil’s Trailhead will cost about $312,000. Widening, repaving and adding a ditch next to the road from Skyliners will cost about $245,000. Tinderholt said the forest has a $250,000 grant from the Federal Highways Administration to help cover the costs.

Reaction among mountain bike riders to the plans for Phil’s Trailhead is mixed, ranging from riders who wonder what is wrong with the current design to those excited about the coming changes.

“I don’t know if it is necessary,” said Tracy Jones, 40, of Bend.

Jones said she drives to and rides from Phil’s Trailhead two to three times a week. She said she doesn’t mind her van getting dusty at the current lot.

David Baker, 45, of Bend, also said he rides at Phil’s about three times a week between April and October. A racer for the Sunnyside Sports mountain bike team, Baker said improvements to the trailhead could make it more of a draw for tourism. He said mountain bike riders from outside Central Oregon hear about Phil’s, come here to ride and are then left unimpressed by the trailhead.

“I think we are having a hard time living up to the hype,” he said.

Regular trail riders at Phil’s like Jones and Baker will have to start from a different trailhead next year if the construction at the trailhead occurs then. The trailhead would be closed during the construction for public safety, Tinderholt said. She didn’t know exactly how long the closure would last.

“It is not something where we would have the trail closed all summer,” Tinderholt said.

She said there isn’t another trailhead nearby that could handle the typical turnout at Phil’s Trailhead, so during the closure the agency will “encourage folks to explore other parts of the forest.”

Phil’s Trailhead project

U.S. Forest Service plans for a new parking lot, restroom and other amenities at Phil’s Trailhead won’t be happening until next year. They had been set to happen this year, but won’t be done until the city waterline and county reconstruction of Skyliners Road occur.

The new trailhead will feature:

• 1.4 acres

• 76 parking spots, including three ADA spots

• Asphalt parking surface

• ADA-compliant toilet

• Informational kiosk

The project will require the removal of 20 to 30 trees and cost $312,619.