The view from the boardwalk on Albany’s Dave Clark Riverfront Path on June 19, 2024.
If you look up from the boardwalk on the Dave Clark Riverfront Path, you get a dramatic view of the underside of the Ellsworth Street Bridge across the Willamette River. And if you look down, you see that the boardwalk needs repairs.
This section of the boardwalk railing was broken when the photo was taken on June 19, 2024.
As I’ve reported before, repairing this short boardwalk was left out of the Albany Waterfront Project, the $21.5 million urban renewal effort to improve the Willamette riverfront.
I noticed the broken rail last month and asked the city about it Monday.
Rick Barnett, the parks and facilities maintenance manager in Albany Parks and Recreation, had not been aware of the broken rail.
“We will get to that in the next week or so,” he told me Tuesday. “Will also take a look for any urgent repair needs.”
He had told me before that the boardwalk would get more attention later, and he reiterated that point.
“During the summer we are typically chasing our tails just to keep up with what has to be done right now,” Barnett said in an email that hit me inbox at 5:46 a.m. “When we get into the fall we will do an assessment of the boardwalk and make needed repairs.”
That wooden walkway was built about 40 years ago to go around a building that housed a restaurant. The building is long gone. So now, instead of repairing the wooden walk, why not run the Clark Path straight along top of the bank?
This was considered in the Waterfront Project, City Engineer Staci Belcastro told me. “It ended up being a very expensive project because the steep bank along this section will require that a concrete retaining wall and railing be constructed, so the project was tabled.”
Later this year, or next, we’ll see how much it will cost to replace the wooden railings and planks. (hh)
Considering the city would be liable should someone get hurt, you would think it would receive higher priority. Maybe annual inspect is warranted.
Why doesn’t the City clean up the medium strip along Waverley. It is a disgrace
I walk/run along that wooden part all year long. I “run” when it’s dry out and “walk” in the wetter months because that wood is damn slippery!