It would not be winter if Bryant Park in Albany didn’t get flooded for at least a few days, sometimes for weeks.
If you’re wondering why Albany’s Bryant Park is still closed to motor vehicles weeks after the annual flooding has subsided — and even if you’re not wondering about that — it’s because the cleanup is not complete.
On my first bike ride after Oregon’s mid-January ice and snowstorm, I found Bryant Way closed near the Albany city limit.
Going up the Third Avenue bridge from Bryant Way on Saturday, I looked to my right to see if the shaft of the Albany hydropower turbine was rotating. What caught my attention instead was the two-tone coloring of the Calapooia River below.
When you’re on your bike in Albany, it’s not often that a snake crosses your path. When it does happen, you may want to stop and take a closer look, which is what I did one day last month.
If anyone had plans for a Mother’s Day picnic at this shelter in Albany’s Bryant Park, well, those plans had to be changed.
Albany hydro: No power since April 2024
Albany’s small hydropower plant has been shut down for more than a year, which I didn’t discover until I asked about it this week. And I doubt it will ever operate again.
Tags: Albany hydro, Calapooia River, Santiam Canal, Third Avenue Bridge, Vine Street plant, water treatment plant