Neighbors of this alleyway between Willamette and Linn avenues in the East Albany Neighborhood have solved their problem for now by boarding up the alley.
Homeowners along an alley for pedestrians south of Knox Butte Road have complained to the Albany City Council about people causing problems in the walkway. They would like it closed.
The alley, roughly 10 feet wide, runs south between houses from Knox Butte Road to Linn and Willamette avenues, between the 3800 and 3900 blocks of both streets. On the map, it continues south of Willamette Avenue to a dead end.
The neighborhood was developed in the early 1990s. The unimproved pathway evidently was intended to provide access on foot between houses in an otherwise unbroken block that is 1,369 feet long.
Laura DuBose and her husband own a home next to the alley on Willamette. On Monday, speaking for a group of neighbors, she told the city council about repeated criminal activity in and near the alley. Mailboxes have been broken into. Fences were vandalized. “Gang members” fought in the alley.
The neighbors fear for their safety, and she asked the city to close the alley or restrict access to it.
North of Linn Avenue, the alley ends in a ditch on Knox Butte Road. A homeowner on Linn, Terrance Mann, told the council that if people are supposed to cross high-speed Knox Butte there, a crosswalk and pedestrian signal should be put in.
Mayor Alex Johnson II said the city staff would look into it.
“We are still discussing [it] internally,” Public Works Director Chris Bailey said this morning. “If there’s no public interest in keeping the ped crossing between the blocks, then we could recommend the council consider vacating the right of way.”
About a month ago, one of the neighbors told me when I rode the bike out there on Tuesday evening, the neighbors boarded up the section of the alley between Linn and Willamette.
Two similar cases come to mind.
In 2009, the city council closed a shortcut near South Albany High School in response to complaints about young people causing trouble there before and after school. Last March, the council reaffirmed the closure, ignoring a 1975 ordinance that said the connection between 36th Avenue and Ermine Street was to be “permanently maintained as a walkway-bicycle path.”
In June 2021, also in response to neighbor complaints, the council vacated two designated footpaths connecting Lafayette Street with Sunrise Elementary school. The paths had been blocked for years by the school itself.
Commenting at the time on a report of the Sunrise path closures, a retired Albany police officer recalled being stymied trying to pursue crooks in that area. They would slip through the narrow paths while he had to drive around the block.
In future housing developments, if Albany wants to prevent long unbroken blocks in the interest of neighborhood walkability, it should just insist on shorter blocks. (hh)
At the far end, this alley from Linn Avenue opens on to the ditch lining the south side of Knox Butte Road.
Having moved into the neighborhood recently, as soon as the temporary fences were removed, we had activity in our backyard, as someone was fleeing and jumped the fence and evidently stayed in our shed. The door to the shed was open…I hope they enjoyed the cobwebs to the face, as we don’t use/enter it. The neighbors in the article were allowed to reinstall the temporary fences, which provided another benefit…quietness. Without the fences, there was constant dog barking. Also, in talking to the neighbors, the people living there had to maintain the the unimproved walking space…they were lucky if the City of Albany showed up once a year to maintain the space. There is no benefit for the neighborhood, except for those to flee during their criminal intents. Keep it closed off!!
I’m not sure it stops the criminals either, but it slows the cops down a little that are trying to catch them.
I live by Sunrise elementary school, and I had a burglar jump into my backyard, and put a wallet in a bag and climb over the fence, next to the locked gate. By the time the cops made it over the fence, along with their K-nine he was long gone.
I use the “alleyway” between Knox Butte and Linn Ave frequently on my daily walks to avoid walking along Knox Butte Road. There are no continuous sidewalks on either side of Knox Butte from Goldfish Farm to Timber St. (there is a short one at the Dari Mart and a short one leading to Timber St. ). Walkers are thus required to walk along Knox Butte Road between the white fog line and the ditch along it’s “45” mph speed limits. This alley way provides a safer alternative through low traffic neighborhoods.
I’ve also occasionally used the pathway between Linn and Willamette, more out of curiosity than necessity, but usually avoided it as it is generally overgrown with brush and weeds. When the wooden fences blocking this pathway went up, it surprised me and I guessed it was not authorized by the city.
I infrequently meet other users of the path between Knox Butte and Linn, though the path is generally worn down and there are candy wrappers and other debris there so it does see daily use. I hope that this path is left open to allow walkers a safer alternative.
With the speed and volume of traffic on Knox Butte, plus the traffic turning into and coming out of Clover Ridge Rd. , it is usually difficult to easily and safely get across Knox Butte. Often I have to run across due to the fast moving traffic. Whether a flashing light and a painted pedestrian crosswalk would help with crossing, I would hope so, at least assuming drivers are vigilant. BTW, I responded that something needed to be done at this intersection in the survey put out by the city a few years ago on the East Albany Plan.