One of Bend's sidewalks to nowhere. 

We are great believers in sidewalks, which can make us one of “those people” at parties.

The problem with Bend’s sidewalks isn’t that they are falling apart, though there is some of that. It’s that there are stretches of sidewalks to nowhere. And there are stretches along some roads where you would think sidewalks should be and they are nowhere to be found.

Some of Bend’s so-called greenways — those streets designated to be great low-stress ways to walk and bike — don’t have sidewalks. On Bend’s east side, look at stretches of 6th Street. On Bend’s west side, look at stretches of Milwaukee Avenue.

Bend has more pressing issues than sidewalk policy, sidewalk construction, sidewalk repair and sidewalk planning. Even sidewalk believers will acknowledge that. But we don’t have to tell you that sidewalks can keep a toddler from weaving into traffic, ensure a student has a safer route to school and make a commute to work that much more worry free.

Bend has a sidewalk plan. City staff and consultants went through and attempted to identify priorities for sidewalks and other pedestrian improvements. It’s from 2023 and some work has been done, such as along Bear Creek Road and others.

But how could we go from the sidewalks to nowhere and sidewalks nowhere to be found to something that makes more sense?

The GO Bond passed by voters in 2020 is helping. And the city’s new transportation fee may help some more.

There are operations and maintenance needs that the city will need to prioritize with the transportation fee revenue. David Abbas, the director of the city’s transportation and maintenance department, told us the transportation fee should also provide money to identify sidewalk needs, rank them and install them.

The transportation fee may also aid sidewalk repair. Just as it is the responsibility of a property owner to remove snow and ice from the sidewalk adjacent to their property in a timely way, the repair of a sidewalk is also the adjacent property owner’s responsibility. A stretch of sidewalk repair will likely cost thousands and must be done by a contractor with the appropriate licensing. Some of the transportation fee could be used to create a fund to help some qualifying families with sidewalk repairs.

So if you are like us and not particularly looking forward to July when the city’s new transportation fee will start appearing on your utility bill, for sidewalk believers it may be less painful.