Activity behind the signs indicates the extent of construction underway at the corner of SE Wilson Avenue and Third Street in Bend. 

The Wilson Avenue Corridor Project in Bend is ahead of schedule, say city officials, with Wilson Avenue and Third Street reopening to traffic as early as May thanks to the decision to remove the old signal and install a stop sign to guide traffic during construction until the new light is installed.

The intersection has faced various levels of closure for months as the city has worked to complete the corridor project, which started in March of 2022 as part of a larger effort to improve east-west connectivity within Bend. Since then, crews have modernized Wilson Avenue from 15th Street nearly to Second Street by building roundabouts at 15th and Ninth streets, installing modern signals, bike lanes and new sidewalks. The Third Street intersection is one of the final areas to be completed.

“I think the project is going pretty well. We’ve had our challenges at points, but the teams are working really well together. As far as schedule, we did make a change to our approach to the project…Doing that really opened up a lot of areas for my contractor to work, and it’s looking like we are going to shave about a month off the project,” said Sinclair Burr, senior project engineer.

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Burr said the decision to redesign the traffic control pattern during construction at Wilson Avenue and Third Street was largely precipitated by pressure to finish the intersection ahead of Memorial Day, which has historically heralded an increase in traffic. The change, he said, will allow crews to reopen Wilson Avenue while the city finalizes plans to modernize the railroad crossing near Ninth Street.

Because modernizing the rail crossing requires so much coordination between the city, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway — which owns the railroad — and the Oregon Department of Transportation, Burr said he was unable to provide a timeline of when that phase of the project would begin.

But Burr said once the intersection at Wilson Avenue and Third Street is complete, “the project should effectively be seen as done. The only thing that we have to come back for is that rail crossing, which means probably six weeks of work.” And while the modernization will require another closure, it won’t impact Third Street or Second Street, Burr said.

Once construction through to Second Street is finished, there are a number of changes motorists should expect. The biggest change will be that the Wilson Avenue and Third Street intersection will once again be a traditional four-way traffic stop. However, the new intersection will have modern signals and protected intersection design.

The second major change will be a new turn lane and turn restrictions for vehicles making a left onto Second Street from the eastbound lane.

The $15.5 million Wilson Avenue Corridor Project is part of the $190 million transportation bond passed by Bend voters in 2020.