Looking northwest across the Queen-Geary intersection on June 27, 2025. The bike path endsto the left of this corner and continues at the diagonally opposite corner.
For years, bike riders using Albany’s Periwinkle Bike path to go across town faced a slight dilemma: how best to cross the intersection of Queen Avenue and Geary Street.
The problem, if you can call it that, was largely solved in 2022, when the city completed widening a 300-foot section of sidewalk from the intersection west toward the point where the bike path opens on Queen.
The contract for that project, which included flashing pedestrian beacons at two intersections farther west, cost about $338,000, mostly covered by a grant under the “Safe Routes to School” program.
Now ODOT, accepting a city request, has recommended a new grant for $419,000 under the federally supported “Community Paths Program.” The Oregon Transportation Commission is to act on the recommendation on July 24.
The grant would fund this: “Project refinement to evaluate and determine safety improvements needed to link the Periwinkle Creek Path across the Queen Avenue-Geary Street Intersection.”
One way to link both ends of the bike path is to allow diagonal crossing of the intersection, which means the traffic signals would be red for 10 or 15 seconds on both Queen and Geary at the same time.
The last time I saw such an arrangement, for pedestrians in that case, was 60-plus years ago in downtown San Bernardino in front of the Harris Co. department store. Foot traffic was still occasionally heavy in those halcyon days of yore.
In Albany, if a hundred or even just a dozen bicycle riders at a time were ever waiting on the corners at Queen and Geary, a diagonal signal might be justified. But that never happens.
What happens instead, at least when it’s me, is this: Going north on the path, I stop at the southeast corner, punch the pedestrian signal button, then walk the bike across Queen, punch another button there to cross Geary, and continue on the widened pathway.
Going south, I ride on the widened sidewalk to the northwest corner, and do the crossing on foot in the opposite direction.
It’s the obvious thing to do. It’s safe, it’s not inconvenient, and gets me off the bike seat for a minute or so.
And, best of all, it does not take 400 grand in public funds to figure out. (hh)
Wondering how to cross on the bike? Dismount and push the buttons just like a pedestrian.
Yes, it’s obvious, Hasso. But pass up $419,000? They’ll be like kids in a candy store.
Pedestrian diagonal crossing of intersections was also used in Eugene Oregon on Willamette Street, also about 60 or so years ago.
Pedestrian scrambles are awesome. We’re seeing them more and more in college towns. But as you say, they have 100 people crossing so they have the volume to put through.
Wait!!!! How is this possible with the republicans destroying ODOT, and DOGE destroying everything else!?
Next time you file your tax return and get hit for more to the state, remember this BS!
“DOGE destroying everything else!?”
What exactly has DOGE destroyed? Please be specific.
I ride a bike. IMO, non of these things are needed for people with at least 1/2 a brain.
Let’s talk about trying to ride from Staples to Walgreens, or Staples to PetCo.
Actually, those are pretty simple if you don’t think you’re too good to be a pedestrian at an intersection. Use a bit of sidewalk when needed for your safety and to be less of an inconvenience to drivers.
Lets see, ODOT says they need to cut jobs for lack of funding and yet gives a grant for something so stupid as this? We need DOGE here in Oregon!!!!
My biking problem at intersections are the tinted windows on some of the vehicles. I like to make eye contact with the driver before going past them at a stop sign when I have the right of way. I thought tinted windows for the windshield and the two front windows had to be under a certain shading?
Tinting the windshield below the sun shade line is illegal. Front windows the limit is 35%. Of course it only matters if its enforced.
Roundabout?
Both streets have only two through-traffic lanes until you get close to the intersection. At the intersection there are five car lanes and one or two bike lanes for each of the four roadways. That might be enough space for a good-size roundabout. If that’s not enough, there don’t seem to be costly structures in the way of acquiring a little extra land (based on Aug. 2023 Google Street View).
Bikes could ride on the sidewalk from anywhere against car-travel direction as Hasso explained and then enter the roundabout normally.
Politics? Look up Carmel, Indiana. Republican mayor 1996-2024
https://www.carmel.in.gov/government/departments-services/engineering/roundabouts
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/hamilton-county/carmel/2019/01/01/carmel-indiana-loves-roundabouts-heres-why/2153927002/
I live in the apartments right there on Queen and Geary and use that intersection every single day, by myself or with my (almost) 3 year old. How I cross the street depends on what the lights are looking like at the moment. If it’s already green on Geary crossing over Queen, then I press the button that goes from one side of Queen to the next, and vice-versa, that way I can cross as quickly as possible. If you are unfamiliar with the intersection (or others like it) you may not realize that when going from one side of the street to the other (when the lights that are perpendicular to you turn red), the turning lane is designated to go before the crossing sign illuminates. I think this is because people may just assume “I’m in the crosswalk, it’s going to let me go first”. The reason I point that out is because having lived right across the street from 711 for almost 5 years I have seen quite a few accidents from pedestrians getting hit at that intersection and I think there might be some incentive for ODOT and the city of Albany to make it as easy as possible to cross that intersection safely to avoid pedestrian/vehicle accidents there as much as possible. It may seem easy enough for us to get from one side to the other, but there are quite a few people out there that are absolutely clueless and will just bolt across the street as soon as they see an opportunity. Just today I saw two different pedestrians walking across the crosswalk as it turned green for traffic to run right over the top of them. When you combine all of that with the fact that it merges from two lanes to one lane rather quickly, you get the people driving cars not paying attention now as quite a few people will try to gun it and zoom through the intersection in the right of the two forward lanes in order to cut off the other lane and merge in front of them.
TLDR; People are idiots and a lot of accidents occur there due to pedestrian ignorance and driver stupidity as well as the layout of the intersection.
Hasso, I used to get my Saddle Shoes at that Harris Co. store in San Bernardino. Thanks for the memory.
If I have this straight, they want to stop all traffic, up to 20 cars all directions so 1-5 people will not have to cross two streets instead of one. Who thinks this stuff up??
I don’t think anyone thought this up. I mentioned the diagonal crossing because it would be the most direct way to link the two ends of the Periwinkle Path, but it’s also completely impractical in this situation. So no, “they” don’t want to stop traffic in all directions.
good