There’s important news happening all over this country and the world, but not on this site. Here, allow me to dwell once again on what had become my favorite Albany pothole.
For many years, a section of 12th Avenue in West Albany was notorious for its plentitude of potholes. On Sunday I discovered that the City of Albany did something about it.
AÂ few weeks ago I was wondering about a strange little hole in the pavement on Fourth Avenue in Albany right where it meets Waverly Drive. Now the hole’s shape, square with vertical sides a few inches deep, is a mystery no more.
Mayor Alex Johnson II provided the deciding vote Wednesday in favor of an Albany ordinance authorizing the city to collect a monthly fee for street maintenance and repairs.
This story is about a pothole. Not just any pothole. Not the kind of pothole which Albany’s older local streets have in abundance. This pothole is special, or it seems that way.
More than one-third of Albany’s streets are in poor condition, the city staff says. That’s 52 miles of pavement, and there is no money in the city budget to get them fixed.
Street work: Not an easy drive — or ride
It must be especially difficult to do street construction and underground utility work during our rainy winters while also keeping traffic moving.
Tags: Pacific Excavation, potholes, street construction, utility trenches, Washington and Calapooia, Winter weather