One of the concrete panels is lowered on to the railroad crossing at the entrance to Monteith Riverpark on Tuesday afternoon.
At the risk of overdoing reports on the heavy work to redo the Water Avenue railroad crossings in Albany, here’s another one.
Between rain showers on Tuesday afternoon, my bike ride took me past the entrance to Monteith Riverpark, closed now because of reconstruction.
A crew from Stacy and Witbeck, a contractor for the Portland & Western Railroad, was installing concrete panels between and on both sides of the newly placed rails.
The park entrance is one of 10 places along Water Avenue where rail crossings are being built, improved or closed as part of the City of Albany’s $21.5 million Waterfront Project.
The crossings are being changed to provide better access to the area between the track and the Willamettte River, including the Dave Clark Riverfront Path, and to meet requirements of the federal disabilities law.
When the panels of the new crossing at Monteith were finished Tuesday afternoon, they were substantially higher in elevation than the adjacent street. Presumably that will get fixed when the street is rebuilt as well. (hh)
The new crossing panels were in place when this photo was taken at 6:36 p.m. Tuesday.
I often wonder how many streets could have been repaired (properly) for $21.5 million dollars.
I may be a bit picky but it is obvious to me that in no time at all this crossing will become as bumpy as others. If you look at the end of the concrete slab you will see that the bottom corner next to the tracks is slanted. Why? that allows the track to move up and down as the train crosses but it won’t make much if any difference since the tie still extends under the concrete and is still going to move the concrete up and down.
There is no way that crossings, especially those with heavy train traffic can be made to stay smooth. Guess it’s one of those facts of life that we have to live with.