See that white sign there? On Thursday afternoon (Feb. 17) it warned people to avoid contact with “contaminated water” in the Willamette River below the construction site of The Banks, an apartment complex near Albany’s Bowman Park. Well, forget it. There was no contamination.
Several of these signs are permanently installed along the Albany riverfront. Normally they are folded closed, but they can be opened in case there is an overflow from the riverfront interceptor, the big sewer main that drains most of downtown. The overflows used to happen sometimes during heavy rain storms.
We have have not, alas, had much rain lately. And in any case, a multimillion-dollar sewer bypass to prevent overflows was completed in 2019 and has proved effective when it was needed since.
So what’s with the warning? I asked Chris Bailey, the city’s public works director.
“Turns out somebody in the public must have opened the sign,” she replied. “It happens from time to time. We used to have them padlocked closed but went away from it due to the difficulty getting them open in terrible weather, but it looks like we will go back to locking them. Thanks for letting us know.”
I spotted the unfolded sign when, on a bike ride through town, I ducked into Bowman Park to take a look at progress on The Banks, the 120-unit apartment complex under construction on the east side of Geary Street, the park entrance.
And as you can see below, the builders are quite far along. (hh)
The Banks as seen Thursday from the entrance to Bowman Park on the Willamette River.
Yeah, just wait.
I would like to know who are the people who are going to rent these apartments? If you go out Knox Butte road they have and are building huge numbers of homes and apartments and I find it hard too believe the transportation portal is going to hire very many people.