We’re looking west along Water Avenue from Davidson Street, where two rail lines converge.
Sometimes you wonder why something is there. Take, for example, these concrete blocks at the extreme eastern end of Water Avenue in Albany.
One day this month –it was on April 7 — the bike and I went east on Water, passed through one of the gaps between the blocks, and ended up on Davidson Street.
That end of Water Avenue is an out-of-the-way place for a bike ride. It’s not even a real street, just a gravel path. But then, finding out-of-the-way places is one of the rewards of riding around on a bike.
So what about those blocks. They don’t show up in aerial photos taken in 2015 and before. But by 2019, they’re plainly visible. Who put them there and why?
As always happens with a street-related question, Ron Irish had the answer. Here’s what Albany’s transportation systems analyst emailed me when I asked him about this:
“The concrete blocks were put there by PWRR. The Water Avenue street right of way adjoins the rail right of way to the north, is pretty narrow (35’) from Columbus Street west, and stops about 160’ short of actually connecting to Davidson. There used to be an informal dirt/gravel road that did connect the Water Avenue right of way to Davidson, but drivers that used that last 160’ were essentially trespassing over rail right of way. The railroad was having problems with trash being dumped in the area, and put the blocks up hoping that by restricting through movements they would have less of a problem. There seems to be less trash now, so perhaps it worked.”
The railroad Irish referred to is the Portland & Western, known in railroad lingo as PNWR. The company operates the two lines of the former Oregon Electric Railway that converge just east of Davidson.
It wasn’t entirely a random event that I stopped there on a ride.
What drew me here was that the Albany Community Development Department had published a notice of a proposed land division at 2240 Water Ave. N.E. The parcel of about 16,000 square feet is wedged between the two rail lines.
The Salem-based owner got city approval of dividing the parcel in two. The second parcel lies east of where the Water Avenue right-of-way ends, but presumably the owner knows that. He does if he inquired about why vehicle access between Water and Davidson is blocked. (hh)
This is the parcel at 2240 Water Ave. N.E. The city has approved the owner’s request to divide it in two.
Muck Rack.
I was searching another term but here you are, Hasso!
Don’t you ever stop!
Please let my comments of BS fly….
Hasso. Larry and I owned the property up to where the bike is until a few years ago. The RR did put the blocks up because of garbage, but also because people were speeding and using the ditch as a place to drive their trucks down and tear up the ground. We worked with the RR when they said to put any deterrent in the ditch we had from our construction company. We, at our own expense, would bring in gravel to fill the pot holes down that strip of road. We’re glad someone is going to improve the property.