For most of its history Albany has been a railroad town, and I like it that way. For drivers this comes with the occasional inconvenience of long waits at grade crossings, as happened Thursday.
Watching a freight train crossing the river on the “Toledo District Willamette Bridge” on Tuesday made me realize something: This is a big anniversary year for that steel structure spanning the river at Albany. It was built 100 years ago, in 1921.
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.
On Day Four of Oregon’s corona shutdown, which began with the governor’s order Monday, operations of the Union Pacific didn’t seem to be affected, as you would expect. But just about every other activity in Albany other than construction was closed or slowed down. And as for me, just as I got to […]
[youtube video=”AQopOSnaZUo”] If Santiam Road on Tuesday is an example, the notorious Queen Avenue railroad crossing is not the only place in Albany where train operations sometimes cause long delays.
Dozens of times over the last few months, I’ve ridden the bike past a roadside memorial where the Cox Creek Path comes out on Salem Avenue. Wind and weather have reduced the shrine to a small pile of rubbish, but you can still tell for whom it was put up.
Benton: UP won’t allow bikeway underpass
It’s hard to say whether the long-planned but never built Albany-Corvallis Bikeway in Benton County is still a possibility, especially now that the Albany portion has to be reconsidered.
Tags: Albany cycling, Albany-Corvallis Bikeway, Benton County, Highway 20, Oregon cycling, Riverside Drive, Thornton Lake Road, Union Pacific