Where a city fuel tax would be sweet
Like Albany, the City of Millersburg is considering a local fuel tax to help pay for street maintenance. But in Millersburg, most of the revenue would come from people who live some place else. The...
View ArticleBridge project to close Goldfish Farm Road
Goldfish Farm Road, between Knox Butte Road and Santiam Highway on the east side of Albany, will be closed to through traffic starting Monday so the bridge across Cox Creek can be replaced. Linn County...
View ArticleChecking on a site that’s out of the way
When actual news takes place, you can usually find me elsewhere. On Saturday, for instance the bike and I checked on an out-of-the way corner of Albany we had visited almost exactly a year before. This...
View ArticleIn road fees or taxes, we’re fated to pay more
Every time we fill up our cars in Albany, the required signage on the pump reminds us that there’s no local gas tax yet. But the amount we pay for transportation is sure to rise. How much depends on...
View ArticleWhat they’ll build off Old Salem Road
Driving back to Albany from Millersburg the other day, I could not help but notice, to my right, the operation to clear a vast area of land west of Old Salem Road. When I inquired, I learned the site...
View Article‘Climate friendly areas’ hit a slight delay
As ordered by the state bureaucracy, Albany will have five so-called “climate friendly areas,” but not quite yet. At least one council member thinks it’s a bad idea for Albany. On Wednesday night the...
View ArticleNo more goldfish on this Albany road
On a bike ride Friday, I took another look at Goldfish Farm Road, where a contractor for Linn County this week started replacing the bridge over Cox Creek. A story about the bridge replacement on April...
View ArticleOn the riverfront beat: Torn flag is gone
For the last few months a tattered American flag was flying over the Albany building owned by the Fraternal Order of Eagles at 127 Broadalbin St. N.W. On Sunday the flag was gone, and so was the pole...
View ArticleConstruction of waterfront ‘plaza street’ begins
Well, it looks like that old section of railroad spur is not going to be left in place as the west end of Water Avenue is rebuilt as part of Albany’s Waterfront Project. The rails may be more than a...
View ArticleBeating the weather at ‘Charli’s on I-5’
On rainy days last winter, customers of “Charli’s on I-5,” the food-trailer pod on Airport Road in Albany, were able to stay warm and dry inside igloo-like shelters. The city says the structures are...
View ArticleWaterfront: Update on putting wires under ground
The work to remove overhead wiring along the west end of Albany’s Water Avenue is nearing its completion. The power poles between Washington Street and the Ellsworth Street bridge were still up this...
View ArticleCould this fence make a flood worse?
A surprising public notice by the City of Albany caught my eye last week. It notified people of a “floodplain development review” at The Banks, the apartment complex on the Willamette River. The...
View ArticleDid logjam vanish? No, alas, as you can see
On Friday morning, a faithful reader asked a question in the comments on this site. I gave a quick answer but then got on the bike to make sure my answer was right. “Have my eyes failed me,” commenter...
View ArticleMore ‘climate’ lessons in Oregon schools?
Democrats in the Oregon legislature issued a press release proudly announcing that the House had approved a bill requiring that children in public schools must be taught about “climate change” as part...
View ArticleNo news here: Just a brief stop on the bike
Wandering around old Albany on the bike without any goal in mind, I sometimes find myself in places that are so out of the way I have never paid them any attention before. That’s what happened...
View ArticleProspects look dim for this intercity bikeway
Remember the Albany-Corvallis bikeway that then Commissioner Linda Modrell of Benton County proposed in about 2004? Benton County and the state are still working on it, but its eventual completion...
View ArticleFollow the ‘INFO’ signs and you’ll find …
For a few weeks now drivers heading east on Highway 20 on their way downtown have passed a new sign before getting to the Spring Hill signal and the Ellsworth Street bridge. “INFO,” it says in...
View ArticleAlbany ‘proceeds with litigation’ but why?
The Albany City Council has voted to sue somebody, apparently, but the members evidently don’t want the public to know the details, such as who and why. Toward the end of its regular meeting Wednesday...
View ArticleWhen Water Avenue will be finished
If you’re wondering how long the western end of Albany’s Water Avenue is going to be closed for construction, keep reading because the answer is coming up. Four blocks of the street are being rebuilt...
View ArticleRiding on a path that for now is clean
Prompted by a post on Facebook, my Saturday bike ride took me along the extension of Albany’s Periwinkle Bikepath behind Lowe’s Home Improvement Center. Here’s a video of what there was to see: The...
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