The city of Redmond is close to finalizing a comprehensive plan that addresses upgrades and improvements to some of the older neighborhoods in the city.

The Redmond Neighborhood Revitalization Plan breaks down five neighborhoods in need of improved transportation choices, better access to schools or parks, and more amenities such as service centers or businesses.

It focuses on keeping established neighborhoods in step with future planning, said Deborah McMahon, city planning manager.

“We are paying attention to existing and older neighborhoods, too,” she said. “It’s not just about new neighborhoods getting cool stuff. We want to make sure we are keeping them in the forefront of our minds and they are not left behind.”

The revitalization plan started in March as a series of stakeholder interviews, surveys of existing conditions and public presentations to find out what the public wanted. Survey results and public comment focused on safe access to things such as schools, parks and traffic crossings.

“In the care and feeding of the city, we need to make sure that when we do master plan updates that we have studies like this so we can prioritize when and where those improvements go in,” she said.

For the neighborhoods that line the Dry Canyon, residents requested easier access to the canyon through more trails and better sidewalks, McMahon said. Specifically, sidewalks that are not connected to each other are scattered throughout Ninth, 10th and 12th streets between Quince Park and Greenwood Avenue.

“We just finished a parks master plan update, and a lot of priorities that we had seen come through that were validated in this survey,” said Annie McVay, parks division manager. “Trails always comes up as a number one priority, so this gives weight to prioritizing those things.”

Neighborhoods on the south side of Redmond have problems with incomplete sidewalks and limited access compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, while neighborhoods surrounding downtown need more open-space areas, according to city documents.

“It’s very difficult to connect parks and be retrofitting trails into areas where everything is already developed, so we are getting a little creative on how to link parks through bike paths or trails,” McVay said.

All future projects within the neighborhood plan focus on safe access through various parts of town, including safe crossings for children to get to school, McMahon said.

“Safety is a big deal — that’s what gets people interested,” she said.

The projects that will be in the final draft presented to the planning commission and the City Council will then be folded into the city’s comprehensive master plan.

The Neighborhood Revitalization Plan will be finalized in the coming month, with its deadline for adoption in July.

— Reporter: 541-617-7829, acolosky@bendbulletin.com