Turns out that contrary to what it says on Benton County’s project website, we can keep calling the proposed Albany-Corvallis Bikeway by that name or something like it.
In a story on Dec. 27, I reported that the county had a new name for the path. “Benton County is in the process of renaming the Corvallis-Albany Bikepath to the Community Connections project,” the county said online.
Since then I’ve had an email from Laurel Byer, the county engineer.
“I wouldn’t say we have completely renamed the project,” she wrote. “I am trying to break the project into pieces and a ‘Community Connection’ for the Asbahr/Pilkington neighborhood sounds a little better than the Corvallis to Albany Bikepath, Phase ‘Y’.
“All of the community connections will eventually equal the Corvallis to Albany (or Albany to Corvallis) Multi-Use Path.”
Whether it’s “Corvallis to Albany” or vice versa probably depends on which way you’re going.
But years ago, the state transportation people named the section of Highway 20 between the two cities the “Albany-Corvallis Highway.”
Since the proposed pathway mostly parallels the highway, it seems to make sense to follow the same naming convention for the path.
What we call it isn’t nearly as important as that the thing will eventually be built. Now that three small segments (the one Byer mentioned and two at Independence Highway and Granger Road) will soon be built, the chances of that are better than before. (hh)
.
Thanks for posting. Whatever the name, I will be glad to ride on the Albany-Corvallis bikeway/Community Connection project.
They can name it anything they like. Just focus on building the darn thing, please. I have been waiting for this path much of my life, seriously. In 1979 I moved to a house on Scenic Dr. in N. Albany and began working at OSU. Over the forty plus years of commuting to Corvallis and back, I’ve mostly gone by car aside from the dozen or so times I took the Linn-Benton Loop bus, and the six years I dared to bike on US-20. That is until I was snipped by a car on my ride home one afternoon. Luckily, I was sent only to the ditch and walked away with a broken rib and a bent wheel. Before I retire, it would be a dream come true to safely commute by bike again after all the years.
The C2C, “Corvallis to Coast” has been open for awhile. It took less time, probably because they had less bureaucracy. It is a very doable day ride. I think I will wait until it gets warmer.
The planners are not thinking big enough in my humble opinion. If they put adequate parking at either end of the path, tourists WILL drive here to ride on the new bikeway, shop at farmstands along the way, and eat lunch in town. Bike tourism has been a proven commodity in many places in the U.S.; our area has just as much to offer in terms of scenery.
So …. give it a great name please! I’ve been biking along HWY 20 for years. I won’t mind sharing the new path with folks coming to visit our fair area.