Despain residents get their wish granted
By Terry Murry on Thursday, April 6th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The Pendleton City Council has sided with residents of Northwest Despain Avenue between Main and Northwest Seventh streets. That came after property owners made their feelings known about the city’s plans to widen the street while reconstructing it this summer.
“The council voted unanimously to leave Despain at its current width of 30 feet,” Mayor John Turner said.
Turner said that the city’s plans called for making improvements on feeder streets like Despain when it was time for them to be reconstructed. That’s when design work began on widening the street to allow for parking on both sides, and to include bulb outs at intersections to make pedestrians more visible.
When the residents found out, they objected, and the council listened. Turner said that last night alone there was about a half hour of discussion before the vote was taken. Since the project has to be redesigned to maintain the current width, Turner said the work will not begin until the 2024 construction season.
