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Meissner Nordic Club seeks $25,000 to expand Snowpark shuttle to ease Cascade Lakes Highway congestion
Summary
At the Bend MPO Technical Advisory Committee meeting, Meissner Nordic Club presented a request for $25,000 in SHF-program funding to expand its weekend shuttle to Meissner Snowpark to relieve parking and safety pressures on Cascade Lakes Highway and improve access for students and low‑income families.
Meissner Nordic Club asked the Bend MPO Technical Advisory Committee on Oct. 7 for $25,000 in State Highway Fund (SHF) program money to expand a weekend snowpark shuttle that ran as a pilot this winter.
Steve Rody, board president of Meissner Nordic Club, told the committee the shuttle pilot (Saturdays and Sundays, three to four round trips per day) charges a $5 nominal fare and was subsidized this season with roughly $12,000 in grants. "For an expanded program, we would need about $50,000 per season to do it. And it's our request for $25,000, which would match 50%," Rody said.
Rody said Meissner maintains about 47 kilometers of groomed trails on U.S. Forest Service land and has a 180‑space parking lot that now fills routinely during the season. He told the committee that traffic on Cascade Lakes Highway has increased roughly 9.6% per year since 2017 and that full parking lots and higher weekend volumes have created safety and access problems for families and high school teams that travel to Meissner for practice and races.
The club's model for this season used a contracted shuttle operator and data collection at season end to plan any expansion. Rody said the pilot will survey riders to determine desired service levels; possible future expansion includes holiday service and midweek trips timed for school practices.
During questions, a committee member clarified that the current pilot is funded for this season and the $25,000 request would support the following winter (the applicant said the request is for 2028 funds). Rody said the pilot expects about 16 weekend days of service between Dec. 1 and March 31 and estimated roughly 5,000 riders over an expanded season as a planning target.
The presentation emphasized safety (fewer student drivers and crashes), efficiency (reduced vehicle miles without lane expansion), and equity (a nominal fare and central pickup near the Bend Parks & Recreation lot used by the Mount Bachelor bus). Rody listed partnerships with the U.S. Forest Service, Bend Parks & Rec and Visit Bend and said the vendor contract for this season is secured.
No funding decisions were made at the meeting; the SHF scoring process will continue and applicants will present again at the November TAC meeting before the policy board considers funding recommendations.
