A day after the Albany City Council narrowly confirmed its longstanding commitment to an off-highway bikeway from Spring Hill to Scenic Drive, I got on my bike and took another look at how things are now.
The planned Albany leg of the proposed bikeway to Corvallis survived a city council vote Wednesday night, but just barely. It took the mayor’s tie-breaking vote to keep the project alive.
In September 2014 the Albany City Council said it would help pay for the Albany leg of the proposed Albany-Corvallis Bikeway. Now the council is being asked to authorize a formal agreement with Benton County to that effect.
Bike lanes in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue! In both directions, no less. Albany has no streets wide enough for anything like that, but I was glad to see that in the nation’s capital, cycling was regarded well enough to try to make it relatively easy and safe on the most prominent street.
Benton County will keep going with a study to see if there’s a feasible way to build an Albany-Corvallis bike route without stepping on any land owners’ toes, the board of commissioners voted this afternoon.
Benton County is serious about wanting public comments on the idea of an Albany-Corvallis Bikeway. That much was clear from what was said and how many showed up at a public forum at the Waldorf School in Corvallis Tuesday.
Finding a bikeway route that works
A planning committee in Benton County has been looking for the best feasible route for a potential bikeway between Albany and Corvallis. A couple of weeks ago it picked three alternatives for closer attention. But two of the three look impractical, at least to me.
Tags: Albany-Corvallis Bikeway, Benton County bike planning