Five years ago Albany applied for a state grant to fix the Salem Avenue bridge over Cox Creek. Now the project has taken on new urgency, and the city has contracted with Wildish Standard Paving to do the work.
This needs an explanation: How come Albany’s Waverly Lake is once again sporting unsightly rafts of algae while the Swan Lakes, just upstream on Cox Creek, appear to be completely clear?
Because it’s on my bike route, the decrepit bridge across Cox Creek on Waverly Drive in Albany has been on my mind for years. It should be replaced, but getting this done will take a while longer.
With plenty of time on your hands, you can scroll through hundreds of pages of government documents such as, for instance, the latest draft of ODOT’s “STIP” for 2024-2027. And if you do, you might find a surprise.
For eight years people ambling along the Crox Creek Path in Albany have been able to read about the history of the area and the creekside land restoration project there. Until now.
After a few days out of town, I found the landscape around Cox Creek and the Waverly Memorial Cemetery had a new look. Gone was the thicket of brambles and branches that camouflaged the vagrant encampments there in the past.
What’s next at Talking Water Gardens
The City of Albany intends to maintain the constructed wetlands known as Talking Water Gardens as a place to enjoy nature even though the place no longer functions as part of the Albany and Millersburg wastewater treatment system.
Tags: constructed wetlands, Cox Creek, DEQ, Linn County Circuit Court, Taking Water Gardens, treated wastewater