08/25/08 Bend

In this "You ask -- we answer" David asks: “Why are they putting up a new traffic light at Powers & 97 Parkway by the Moose Lodge? It does not seem right when there is one there already working just fine. Why the new one?”

The Oregon Department of Transportation says it's in preparation for a new shopping center in that area which will include Gottschalks department store. By changing the approach to the parkway from Powers where you would normally only have just one lane crossing over, you'll eventually have two.

"That left turn lane will extend from the parkway all the way to Third Street, so the effect is that we're creating a left turn lane. It won't be legal to go north onto the parkway but you will have another lane to get into to make that left hand loop and another left hand turn up at Third," says Peter Murphy of ODOT.

The new shopping center will likely increase traffic, so this new light will allow easier access from Powers to Third.

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