Looking west on Queen Avenue toward the railroad crossing and Pacific Boulevard on Thursday afternoon.
The 400 block of southwest Queen Avenue in Albany was supposed to have been reopened to traffic by now, but there has been an appparent snag.
“The contractor had issues coordinating with the railroads for the water line work east of Pacific Boulevard,” Chris Cerklewski of the Albany Public Works engineering section told me Thursday. “They are now planning on being done by November 3rd.”
K&E Excavating, the Salem contractor that rebuilt Queen Avenue this summer between Pacific Boulevard and the west city limits, is working to complete its $6.2 million contract with the city by replacing a water line under Queen between Pacific and Ferry Street.
The city had announced earlier it hoped to reopen that busy section of Queen Avenue, going across the railroad tracks, by Oct. 18.
The street has been closed to through traffic but open for access to businesses near the railroad crossing. After work had stopped on Thursday, I rode the bike through the construction zone.
That’s when I saw a deep excavation in the middle of Queen, surrounded by chain link fencing. Water covered the bottom of the hole.
The size and depth of the excavation suggests that replacing the water main under Queen Avenue is no small job. Whether it can be accomplished over the next two weeks, as Cerklewski said the contractor hopes, all we can do is wait and see. (hh)
Thanks Hasso,
Love the articles. Keep them coming.
It’s so nice that the street is closed
Makes getting through the intersection so much easier