The wife of a man killed in a 2020 multivehicle crash on the Bend Parkway will sue several government agencies for allegedly maintaining a flawed highway layout in town.

In a Dec. 27 Deschutes County Circuit Court filling, the Oregon Department of Transportation, Deschutes County and the city of Bend were put on notice the estate of Christopher Ryan Rodea will sue.

The tort claim, brought by Rodea’s wife, Stephanie, through a Portland attorney, asserts the crash was caused in part by road design and defects of U.S. Highway 97, specifically a lack of a barrier between the north and southbound lanes and inadequate lighting.

The six-car wreck occurred around 5:15 p.m., Nov. 19, 2020, on northbound Highway 97 near the Revere Avenue on-ramp.

According to Bulletin archives, a BMW driven by Bend resident Jonathan Short, 39, hit a Chevrolet pickup while merging into the left northbound lane. The pickup — driven by Bend resident Kevin Schultz, 47 — then crossed into the southbound lane of the parkway and crashed into a Ford van driven by Rodea.

Rodea was 37 at the time.

Schultz sustained serious injuries and was taken to St. Charles Bend. Short was not taken to the hospital.

Two other southbound vehicles and one northbound vehicle were also involved in the crash, but no drivers or passengers in those three cars sustained a serious injury.

The parkway was closed for about eight hours after the crash.

The Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office investigated the crash for possible crimes, but in the end, only traffic citations were issued.

Rodea grew up in the Salem area. He lived in Bend worked as an electrician, according to his obituary. He left behind four children 14 and younger.

People in Oregon who intend to sue a government body must first file a tort claim notice.