Waiting at Albany’s Queen Avenue railroad crossing gives you plenty of time to contemplate one of the riddles of our time, such as why it takes ODOT so many years to get going on a simple project that doesn’t seem all that necessary in the first place.
ODOT has invited the public to review a draft of its 2021-24 transportation improvement plan, including numerous projects in the Albany area. On a rainy winter evening, what could be a better use of time than to read and wonder about some of the items on the list?
The date for rebuilding and smoothing out the Queen Avenue railroad crossing in Albany keeps getting pushed back. That’s what emerged from an update the city council received on Monday.
[youtube video=”r4AVIWF5_a8″] Doug Hiddleson and some of his neighbors on S.W. Washington Street are fed up with the volume of the horn of Switch Engine 1501 of the Portland & Western Railroad, and they’ve turned to the city for help.
[youtube video=”GHc_DcfEbo4″] Albany’s Queen Avenue railroad crossing has long annoyed motorists because of the condition of the pavement and frequent delays. Now comes a new complaint: The length and volume of the air horn blasts of switch engine No. 1501.
One little change in operations would reduce the number of traffic delays at Albany’s Queen Avenue railroad crossing, and thus cut down on complaints about long waits as well.
Crossing on Queen: Another year of bumps
Bad news for drivers using the railroad crossing on Albany’s Queen Avenue: A project to fix the uneven crossing is likely to be delayed another year. Instead of being constructed in 2022, it may be done in 2023.
Tags: ODOT-Rail, Queen Avenue crossing, Union Pacific