City presents Hawthorne overcrossing design options, seeks accessibility input ahead of 2027 construction

City of Bend design staff on Nov. 20 presented three ramp concepts for the Hawthorne pedestrian overcrossing and asked the Accessibility Advisory Committee (COBAC) to help refine approaches for people who walk, roll and cycle.

Garrett Sabarin, principal engineer for the city, said the project has federal and state grant funding, a roughly $32,000,000 budget and a "local contribution for this project is relatively low under $1,000,000." He said the Federal Highway Administration-funded portion is being managed by ODOT and the team is targeting design completion in mid-2027 with construction planned for late 2027 or early 2028.

The three concepts differ in slope and resting-area design. Option 1 uses a straight approach with approximately 7.3% slope and intermittent 5-foot landings plus a larger mid-run resting area; Option 2 enlarges landing widths and includes intermittent 20-foot landings; Option 3 mixes 5-foot and 12-foot landings to reduce the effective slope to about 6.9%. "Those 12-foot landings give us enough space that potentially you could incorporate a bump out with a bench and a space that a wheelchair could tuck in," a design team member said.

Committee members pressed staff on user trade-offs. "I'm so divided about this," COBAC member Carl Burnett said, contrasting the needs of wheelchair users and cyclists. "When you're biking, you kind of expect a consistent slope... but when you're in pedestrian mode, that's when ramps with level landings are nice to have." Chair John Halen raised concerns about the west-side descent onto Hill Street: "I'm more concerned about descending at this grade on the other side... how we're going to protect people from building up momentum coming down that ramp onto Hill Street." The design team acknowledged limited west-side flexibility due to required clearance over the BNSF railroad and said it is considering speed-management and traffic-control measures.

Garrett told the committee an online open house is available for two weeks through Dec. 9 and an in-person open house is set for Dec. 2 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Dogwood (near the BottleDrop at Second and Hawthorne). He said the team will return to council in January and hopes to decide on design direction before that meeting.

Next steps: staff asked COBAC whether members wanted to offer feedback now, submit individual input through the open house, or host a December follow-up meeting to review summarized public comments. The city will gather public input and refine ramp details, including landing sizes, benches and speed-management features, before returning to council for decision-stage review.