This pedestrian crossing of the Water Avenue rail line, at Baker Street, is to be closed as part of the Waterfront Project.
If the city council goes along, Albany is about to spend $3.4 million on crossings along the Water Avenue railroad line.
This is part of Albany’s urban renewal project to revive the Willamette riverfront. The plan calls for doing something about crossings on the line between Calapooia and Thurston streets, a distance of 11 blocks.
In September, council members sitting as the Albany Revitalization Agency (ARA) approved just short of $2.4 million for the rail crossings. Since then the cost has jumped a million dollars to $3,420,000.
In a memo for the ARA meeting scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15, the city staff blamed the increase on a delay in the ODOT Rail Division issuing a final crossing order to approve the projects.
According to the memo, ODOT issued a draft of the order in March 2022 and should have made it final after a 30-day comment period. But the agency gave Burlington Northern, which owns the track, additional time to respond to the draft.
“Staff reached out multiple times to ODOT Rail and the railroad engineer, requesting that the order be expedited to avoid cost increases due to inflation, to no avail,” the memo says.
ODOT did not issue the order until this July. “The delay most certainly is the primary driver for the significant cost increase,” the city staff says.
To help cover the increase, the ARA is being asked to allocate $750,000 of CARA’s remaining spending authority toward the Waterfront Project.
Spending for the entire project (including Monteith Riverpark and Water Avenue) now is expected to hit just under $21.5 million. Some $18.5 million of that is coming from CARA, and another $1.5 million from the water system for a new underground pipe. The rest of the funding comes from parks maintenance and from systems development charges for streets.
Changes are planned at 10 rail crossings:
Three vehicle and pedestrian crossings are to be improved, at Washington Street (the entrance to Monteith Park), and Broadalbin and Thurston streets.
Two new pedestrian crossings will be built, under the Lyon Street bridge and at Montgomery Street.
Two crossings, at Calapooia and Ferry streets, are to be modified for emergency access.
Three pedestrian crossings are to be closed: at Baker Street, under the Ellsworth bridge, and mid-block between Ferry and Broadalbin.
You might wonder about spending $3 million on getting across a railroad track that people have been able to freely cross for many years.
I’ve been following this project since it began. The only council member who questioned the riverfront spending in recent years was Dick Olsen, and last year he was voted out. (hh)
Postscript: On Wednesday night the ARA voted to approve the $750,000 payment toward to Waterfront Project to help cover the price of the crossing changes. Councilwomen Steph Newton and Matilda Novak, both representing Ward 1, voted against it.
I’m so sick of CARA (ARA). At least, I think a law passed in a recent election in Albany that no new revitalization agencies can be formed in Albany without a vote of the people.
Revitalization Agency is what the RA in CARA and ARA stands for. (I ran into someone who thinks “a grant” from the federal government is paying the 21 million plus dollars for the Albany Riverfront Project. I told this person, No, CARA is the grantor and CARA is made up of Albany taxpayer funds.
“At least, I think a law passed in a recent election in Albany that no new revitalization agencies can be formed in Albany without a vote of the people.”
See Albany Charter, Section 43.1, Urban Renewal Citizen Right to Vote.
City voters passed this in 2013.
Thank you for the information. I don’t have to look it up now because you know all about it and have informed me. Again, thank you.
Wanted to add that 2013 when the “Urban Renewal Citizen Right to Vote” law passed is just yesterday to me.
CARA is just a scam using taxpayer dollars to finance council members “pet” projects. NONE of it will ever return the investment of the taxpayers.
There is a lot to not like about this. The first is the railroad blaming the substantial price increase on ODOT. The second is the use of dollars dedicated to roads. The third is taking money from parks. A rail crossing is not a park. Lastly, the 21 million dollar price tag for what is essentially a beautification project. The disproportionate use of tax dollars in this part of town as compared to the rest of the community is completely unfair to taxpayers outside this small area that benefits from such spending. Never thought I’d live long enough to say it, but Dick Olsen was right.
I want to say it, too. “Dick Olsen was right.”
Thank you Cap and Anon for your recognition. I complained time after time about these unneeded rail improvements and City Staff agreed to remove them from the plans. The ugly crossing arms will do nothing but allow more trains at higher speeds to barrel down Water St. and through our so-called park. Also, thank you to Steph and Matilda for voting NO to this unneeded, wasteful and ugly proposal.
No new crossing arms will be installed. The track is speed-restricted to 10 mph.
That total project is a fiasco! Crazy to spend that type of money on the railroad crossings. Most pedestrians just step across the tracks any place they choose and the vehicle crossing are presently of little problem. How often does a train actually travel that line during daylight? Too bad the citizen of Albany didn’t have a direct voice in this entire project.
Once again, it’s all avoidable spending the residents/taxpayers were never allowed to vote up or down. Been a 20 yr history of local gov’t ignoring the wishes of the people,
witness the long ago charter amendment requiring voter approval before taking on more debt–passed by 80% vote.
Just wondering how many of our streets could have been repaired with the money wasted on the riverfront fiasco?
ABSOLUTLEY!
If inflation is doing this to the cost of a few simple rail crossing, think what it’s doing to the cost of future street repairs.
How shortsighted is this Mayor/City Council? It’s total fiduciary malfeasance.
These “surprise” cost increases are in fact just the opposite; completely predictable. I have no opposition to CARA and many of the projects it has funded, but this is an almost malicious waste of funding for a municipality that is supposedly struggling to fund basics, including the upkeep of existing parks. I know the proponents will trot out the tired line that the funding is narrowly earmarked and cannot be spent on the necessities. To which I will respond- It was irresponsible to earmark it in such a way to begin with!!!
What a waste! It’s interesting how the City was crying last year that they had no money so they instituted a new fee (TAX) on our water bills! Since then Police, Fire and Public Works have created “NEW” positions that didn’t exist before! The whole process is a SHAM! Talk about lack of transparency!
They are coming for more $$ from us all in the form of higher, monthly city util bills.
Watch out!!!
As we are talking a million here, a million there (“pretty soon we’re talking about real money”, said the senator from Illinois about billions) it occurred to me that nobody has asked how much BNSF would want for the track in the first place. I doubt that it is very profitable for the railroad, but I’d be willing to learn.
I’m not sure if you noticed, Hasso, but it was both myself and Novak that voted against this. I even reiterated this in Business From From The Commission — that I found it interesting that the two representatives from ward 1 where this project takes place both voted “no”.
Don’t spend a dime! The public already has access that is sufficient.
I’m a supporter of the riverfront project based on what I have seen in other cities that have done similar improvements. However, even to me this amount for rail crossings seems excessive and perhaps unnecessary. When the price skyrocketed, it is unfortunate that at a minimum they didn’t trim the railroad crossing project scope.
According to the city staff, under the terms of the crossing order by ODOT-Rail, dropping any of the crossings would have required starting over on the regulatory process of getting a new order.
Mr. Olsen, we miss your voice of reason. We are hopeful that you will choose to run for city council again. It was a shock when you left . Two spots will be open at the end of next year and it will be our chance to change it up. Common sense never gets too old and out of date. Thank you for always doing what is right. The good people of Albany will be there with you if choose to go for it.
“Two spots will be open at the end of next year…”
Really? Which two? I know of only one…
You’r right Pat. I tried time after time to have public hearings on this project. Particularly the destruction of the Dave Clark stage in Monteith park and this unneeded railroad work. “Oh no” said the rest of the council “ the public has had plenty of time to comment”. Now I see comments, and I’m still looking for anything positive.
Mr. K, Why ask me? Mr. Hering will not allow us to call you out on your lack of respect and concern for the welfare of the residents of Albany. All your conversations are concerning the future people who would possibly work, live and/or visit here. Albany has a large population of people who want to prosper here. We are over taxed, over looked, and over whelmed by the city’s issues that are not addressed or recognized. If you want respect, you have to earn it. We earn it everyday by working, being law abiding citizens and bearing the burden of those who don’t. Please stop attacking us for the city’s failures.
“Why ask me?
You made the statement. I simply asked you to clarify it… You can’t or won’t…
Why is there still a homeless camp on the Periwinkle Bike Path?