Construction work that began on Bend’s 14th Street in March could continue through the end of October because the city added a new section of road to its reconstruction project.

Work began earlier this month on a section of road between Galveston and Albany avenues, the last of three sections of 14th Street that will be completely rebuilt this year. The city’s contractor, K&E Excavating, can keep the road closed until late October but expects to finish sometime in mid-October, said Garrett Sabourin, the city engineer overseeing the 14th Street project.

The city expected work to last through October on just two sections of the road: one between Albany and Simpson avenues and one between Newport and Galveston avenues. But construction proceeding more quickly than expected and a tentative agreement with a group of developers that would provide $1.4 million for the missing middle section between Albany and Galveston avenues cleared the way for work to finish before winter.

“It’s a benefit to the overall community for us to get the whole corridor done this year,” Sabourin said.

The project end date depends on weather, because some work can’t be done in cold weather or rain.

Construction on 14th Street began in March, when Cascade Natural Gas started a 10-week project to move a pipeline under 14th Street between Newport and Galveston avenues. City reconstruction of 14th Street between Simpson and Albany avenues and the Simpson roundabout followed in April.

Contractors replaced the Simpson roundabout’s crumbling asphalt with concrete, a more durable material used in newer roundabouts that doesn’t crack as easily as asphalt under the pressure of turning vehicles. The Simpson roundabout reopened in mid-May, and work on the section between Simpson and Albany avenues wrapped up in late June.

Most businesses on 14th Street are between Simpson and Albany avenues, where the city has a 100-foot right-of-way.

Contractors closed parts of that segment for reconstruction while leaving ways to access businesses. Subsequent sections, which are residential and have a 60-foot right-of-way, have required full road closures, Sabourin said.

“The only area where we had that ability to do that from a phasing and safety perspective is the commercial area,” he said.

Once the work between Simpson and Albany ended, contractors moved north to the section between Newport and Galveston avenues. That section was completed in mid-August.

While that work was going on, the Bend City Council heard a pitch that would let four developers on Bend’s west side pay a combined $1.4 million to finish the middle section of 14th Street this year and contribute to other road improvements necessary to develop the land they own. The City Council hasn’t yet signed off on a final version of that agreement, but the city of Bend had enough money from other fees to finish the street with the understanding that the developers are likely to reimburse it later this fall.

Because the current section of 14th Street only has businesses along the Galveston roundabout and Albany intersection, construction management hasn’t required as much working with businesses as earlier phases, said Ben Hemson, the city’s business advocate. Crews added a new temporary driveway access at Parilla Grill, at the southeast corner of 14th and Galveston, he said, and the city’s project manager met with owners of Parilla and Taco Salsa, on the southwest corner.

“They both weren’t concerned about it as some other folks had been,” Hemson said. “It hasn’t been quite as noticeable as further down on the south end where there was frontage on 14th Street.”

He said businesses by the Albany intersection were more concerned during the first phase of construction.

“We can see the finish line,” Hemson said. “Folks have kind of trained people to find them.”

—  Reporter: 541-633-2160, jshumway@bendbulletin.com