HASSO HERING

A perspective from Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley

A brief diversion on a sunny winter’s day

Written January 29th, 2025 by Hasso Hering

A little after 4 on Wednesday afternoon on the Cox Creek Path.

Wednesday was supposed to be the last dry and sunny day for a while. The afternoon found the bike and me on Albany’s Cox Creek Path, where I noticed two things.

The first was obvious. The Portland & Western was building a train on the track overhead:

The other thing I noticed was that the trail was remarkably clean.

Someone had covered the graffiti under the two railroad trestles with layers of neutral paint. Abandoned property and related debris was mostly gone from the brush along the trail, and from the banks of Cox Creek as well.

I wish I knew exactly whom to thank for this cleanup work.

And there’s another thing to be grateful for if you’re someone who likes to ride a bike: A long Oregon January without ice or snow on the valley floor. (hh)





2 responses to “A brief diversion on a sunny winter’s day”

  1. Jill Van Buren, Coordinator AAP & GC says:

    Hello Hering; Van Buren here.
    The people you can thank for the clean trail along Cox Creek would be: Albany Parks and Rec’s Adopt A Park; Direct Flooring Center, the adopters of Cox Creek; Baxter Weber, who works along that trail all the way down to the railway station, and Chuck Poirier, head of the Graffiti Chasers.
    Like most volunteers they put in a lot of hours making Albany better, but are rarely seen. So this pat on the back is greatly appreciated.

  2. Rebecca Blair says:

    Yes! Many thanks to all the individuals who take the time and energy to do the great clean-up work. We appreciate you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

 
HH Today: A perspective from Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley
Albany Albany City Council Albany council Albany downtown Albany housing Albany parks Albany Planning Commission Albany police Albany Post Office Albany Public Works Albany riverfront Albany Station Albany streets Albany traffic Albany urban renewal Amtrak apartments Benton County bicycling bike lanes Bowman Park Bryant Park CARA climate change COVID-19 Cox Creek Cox Creek path Crocker Lane cumberland church cycling Dave Clark Path DEQ downtown Albany Edgewater Village Ellsworth Street bridge Highway 20 homeless housing Interstate 5 land use Linn County Millersburg Monteith Riverpark North Albany North Albany Road ODOT Oregon legislature Pacific Boulevard Pacific Power Portland & Western Queen Avenue Queen Avenue crossing Railroads Republic Services Riverside Drive Santiam Canal Scott Lepman Talking Water Gardens Tom Cordier Union Pacific urban renewal Water Avenue Waterfront Project Waverly Lake Willamette River


Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved. Hasso Hering.
Website Serviced by Santiam Communications
Hasso Hering