BEND, Ore. — After nearly six years of planning, the Deschutes National Forest is almost ready to begin construction of a welcome center on the Cascade Lakes Highway.
First proposed in late 2008, the project hit a snag when opponents filed an appeal in 2010, questioning whether the proposed building at the southeast corner of the highway and Forest Service Road 41 would provide access to nearby trails.
In response to the appeal, in 2012 the Forest Service agreed to add parking for people accessing nearby trails, and added a planned tunnel beneath the highway to provide safe passage under the road for hikers and bikers.
Forest Service spokeswoman Jean Nelson-Dean said construction bids for the project have been submitted, and the winning bidder should be selected this fall.
Power lines and other utilities are expected to be extended to the site this fall as well, she said.
Funding for the project was provided through an Oregon Department of Transportation program to enhance designated “scenic byways,” roads where travelers can encounter unique natural and historic features.
Nelson-Dean said the Deschutes National Forest has wanted to establish a presence near recreation sites reachable on the Cascade Lakes Highway since moving its headquarters to a site near Pine Nursery Park.
“When our office moved all the way to the northeast side (of Bend), we didn’t really have a place like that,” she said. “We used to have our office kind of off Century Drive, and it was easy for people to stop in and get that kind of information on their way up the scenic byway.”
The welcome center initially is likely to be staffed only in the summer, Nelson-Dean said, and will be a place where forest visitors can pick up parking permits and maps, and ask Forest Service staff about weather, trail conditions and other matters.
Nelson-Dean said the facility will also feature some public rooms where school groups or others can hold educational programs or other events, and will serve as a base for Forest Service law enforcement officers closer to the forests than their current headquarters.
