Photographed on Oct. 4, the huge new sign bridge on Ninth Avenue was still awaiting its signs.
ODOT likes big sign structures. That’s made evident by the size of the new sign bridge the department has installed on Oregon 99E and U.S. 20, known in Albany as the 1500 block of Ninth Avenue S.E.
The structure was still waiting for the installation of the actual signs when I took its photo this week.
Presumably the signs will be the same as, or similar to, the directional signs which for many years have been posted a little to the east, at Geary Street, telling motorists which lanes go north to Salem and Portland, and which ones go east.
Will the existing signs at Ninth and Geary be replaced? Don’t know yet.
Construction of the new sign bridge on Ninth is part of a $4.1 million ODOT project intended to increase traffic safety on Santiam Highway between the 99/20 junction at Geary Street and Waverly Street to the east.
New signals have been installed at Santiam and Waverly. On its project website, ODOT says the signals are scheduled to be activated toward the end of this month.
Installation of new sections of raised medians between Waverly and Clay Street also is procceding. ODOT says the work is being done at night, between Sunday nights and Thursday mornings.
To the layman, meaning me, the new sign bridge looks especially beefy. Its hefty dimensions appear similar to the new half-bridge on Highway 20 near Independence Highway. I’m assuming that’s what the current or updated highway engineering standards require.
I asked ODOT about that. If and when the answer comes, I’ll pass it on. (hh)
I rode past with a friend the other day and we were pretty much speechless. Talk about swatting flies with a sledge hammer!
The best signage I have seen is roads painted with the interstate number on them so you just follow the road for interstate you want. In the case in point just paint the sign on the road and let the driver follow it.
And a whole lot of money. the one on HWY 20 is same size pipe. Several City intersections are being outfitted with new, big stuff. Who cares about money since we hit $31B national debt. Makes no sense.
Just seem to be adding more clutter to the landscape!
And yet our roads continue to crumble.
If it’s not an “arterial” or “collector” street…true. Not that you’ll read the facts, but there are very strong reasons for that problem:
https://www.cityofalbany.net/streets
Brings to mind a 60s thought
Strong enough to survive a direct nuclear strike.
What is going on with the huge remodel on the Linn Benton Lincoln ESD building?
Is it going to be something else or a different business?
You can read a story about the renovation here: https://hh-today.com/madison-school-renovation-and-history/