Council and staff split on Franklin Corridor costs as geobond funds steer Midtown Crossing work

Bend city staff and councilors on June 18 continued a months‑long discussion over how much of the Midtown Crossing budget should be spent rebuilding Franklin Avenue, a key east‑west corridor that city leaders say must be upgraded to complete the Bend bikeway network and to connect to the federally funded Hawthorne Bridge.

City engineering staff presented a progress update on a design‑build contract for Franklin Avenue between Harriman and Eighth Street. The work is split into packages. Staff recommended moving a lower‑impact segment (Fourth to Eighth Street) forward to construction this fall under an upcoming guaranteed maximum price (GMP 3) and postponing the more complex western segment (Harriman to Fourth, GMP 4) for either later construction or value‑engineering. The more complex section involves a railroad undercrossing with constrained space, and engineers said constructing drainage and new curb/wall alignment there would require a 5–6 month complete closure of the underpass in order to finish the work safely and on time.

City staff also presented an updated budget. The Midtown Crossing geobond allocation originally included funding for Greenwood, Hawthorne, and Franklin corridors; Greenwood work is complete as a quick‑build. After the federal grant made Hawthorne Bridge construction feasible, staff said much of the remaining Midtown Crossing budget is now aligned toward Franklin. Staff reported a current funding gap driven by final design refinements and contractor estimates; a contingency of roughly $3.9 million sits between the present design and the project budget. If that contingency is needed, staff said the most readily available additional funding source would be the remaining geobond allocation for Midtown Crossing, otherwise staff would bring a request to council for new appropriation.

Council concern and direction Several councilors raised concerns about the scale and cost of the Franklin design, in particular the sections that call for multiple travel lanes, a center turn lane, and wide curb radii that would require rebuilding or shifting walls and utilities. Councilors asked whether the corridor might be scaled back, phased differently, or rely more on redevelopment to fund or trigger frontage improvements. Several councilors also asked for clearer options for how the Hawthorne Bridge landings on either side of the river will connect to upgraded Franklin, and what additional costs would be needed to accomplish those linkages.

Engineers noted specific cost drivers: moving walls to provide uphill separated bike lanes on both sides of the underpass (estimated at roughly $2 million), drainage mitigation under the railroad, and required driveway reconfigurations across the corridor. Staff said the most likely path if a large portion of the contingency is required is to draw more from the Midtown Crossing geobond allocation — the same money that will be used as the city’s matching funds for the federally funded Hawthorne Bridge — and warned council that shifting those funds would constrain other Midtown projects.

Council action and next steps Council signaled support to proceed with the GMP 3 package (Fourth to Eighth Street) and asked staff to return with options for narrowing scope and value‑engineering GMP 4, including phased frontage work that aligns with private redevelopment. Councilors requested additional analysis on: (1) removing or shrinking the center turn lane, (2) options for the underpass work that reduce closure time or shift construction sequencing, (3) phasing requirements so that frontage improvements are triggered by redevelopment rather than built city‑wide up front, and (4) more clarity on what additional work would be necessary to connect the Hawthorne Bridge landings to improved Franklin.

Why this matters Franklin is the planned east‑west backbone of Bend’s bikeway system and one of a handful of major east‑west crossings that carry traffic and provide access to the downtown and central districts. Councilors said they are willing to invest in connection and safety improvements but want clearer tradeoffs between large, immediate capital outlays and a phased approach that would spread costs as private redevelopment occurs. Staff committed to return to council with value‑engineering options, revised cost estimates, and a Midtown‑wide funding update in the fall.

Speakers - Ryan Oster — Director of Engineering (city staff presentation) - Todd (senior project engineer) — project engineer (city staff) - Russ (Chief operations officer; name in transcript: "Rescoracing chief operations officer") — operations perspective

Transcript evidence - Topic intro: "So good evening, council. Rescoracing chief operations officer. I'm here with Ryan Oster, who is our director of engineering and city engineer." (transcript block starting 6605.11) - Underpass closure estimate: "...we're estimating a 5 to 6 month full closure of the Franklin undergrossing." (transcript block starting 7244.44)

Provenance:{"transcript_segments":[{"block_id":"6605.11","local_start":0,"local_end":80,"evidence_excerpt":"So good evening, council. Rescoracing chief operations officer. I'm here with Ryan Oster, who is our director of engineering and city engineer."},{"block_id":"7244.44","local_start":0,"local_end":120,"evidence_excerpt":"...we're estimating a 5 to 6 month full closure of the Franklin undergrossing."}]}