The potential traffic hazard at this spot remained unchanged on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026.
About once a week or so, the bike takes me west on Queen Avenue and across the tracks south of the Albany railroad yard. Each ride reminds me of a potential hazard left by a paving project in 2024.
The $4 million rebuilding of that end of Queen Avenue resulted in great bike lanes on both sides. But at the crossing, the westbound lane ends abruptly and leads straight into a shallow hole at the first rail.
I know this potential bike trap is there and avoid it. But first-time riders might not see it in time and crash, or they might veer into the traffic lane in front of a truck.
I’ve been harping about this for a while.
The problem might be one of jurisdiction. The bike lane is part of a city street, but the sudden gap in the lane is on railroad right of way, on a track used by the Portland & Western Railroad.
I have not spoken to anybody at the Portland & Western. But on Feb. 4, spokesman Tom Ciuba of the Portland & Western’s parent company emailed me: “Our general manager has committed to having someone from our MOW/engineering department take a look at the location to see what can be done.”
MOW stands for “maintenance of way.” That department has a lot of important work to do, keeping the trains on the rails. I don’t know if or when they’ll get around to doing something about this. (hh)
From this side the sudden gap in the bike lane is not easy to see until you’re on top of it.
When that project was underway, we all hoped it would solve the problem of our cars bumping over the rails. That was far less of problem than bikers had to address.
All that money and nothing changed.
It would be nice if they would put a place for the kids to walk on. The south ends instead of having to cross over to the north end, where that hole is. It would’ve taken them some extra ass fault.
To make it safe for people to walk on the south side, of queen street .it was someone’s…..asphalt
Damn. That’s pretty brutal. I can’t believe there’s no marking or signage. That is definitely a lawsuit waiting to happen. Hopefully no one get injured or killing when they have to ride into the path of traffic!