More than patches: Bad pavement gets a fix
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. The poor condition of many...
View ArticleWe interrupt this channel for a hungry bird
There I was, staring at my laptop, when I looked up and saw something more interesting just outside the window. A northern flicker had come by to have a meal. This bird stuck round longer than usual....
View ArticleGrand Prairie land use hearing to resume
A proposal to rezone an undeveloped property on Grand Prairie Road in southeast Albany to allow apartments or townhouses will be the subject of a continued public hearing next week. Four people had...
View ArticleCox Creek bridge replacement inches forward
On a bike ride Wednesday, I stopped at the bridge across Cox Creek on Waverly Drive. Except that the pavement has become more pitted, little has changed there since the bridge was briefly closed and...
View ArticleAt Fourth and Calapooia, a building rises
There’s something new to see at the northeast corner of Fourth Avenue and Calapooia Street in Albany: vertical construction. The framing has started going up on Calapooia Commons, the mixed-use housing...
View ArticlePiecing together a special Albany playground
Exactly a year ago, the Albany City Council approved the purchase of a special kind of playground for installation at Lehigh Park. Now the city’s park maintenance crew is bolting the pieces together....
View ArticleQueen Avenue: Why the bumps are still there
When a section of Queen Avenue was reopened this week after being torn up for utility work and then repaved, somebody complained in a comment here that the railroad crossing was still as bumpy as...
View ArticleNew in a ‘conflict zone:’ Green stripes
When Queen Avenue east of Pacific Boulevard in Albany was repaved and reopened to traffic last week, a new wrinkle appeared in the markings the contractor laid down: a series of green stripes in the...
View ArticleAutumn at Talking Waters: Smooth and easy riding
Late October is as good a time as any for a visit to Albany’s Talking Water Gardens, and I did a circuit of the major paths on the bike in the middle of last week. The first thing I noticed was that...
View ArticleA change in brands but not in service
Someone asked whether the new signage at Courtesy Corner meant that the 70-year-old gas station in Albany had been sold. The answer, I’m happy to report, is no. It remains the same family business it...
View ArticleWater Avenue wiring: Monthly bill may vary
A Pacific Power contractor is working on undergrounding electric wires along a section of Water Avenue on the Albany riverfront. Ratepayers in Albany can expect to get the bill, but the amount is not...
View ArticleWatching out for vandals at Monteith Park
Quite a bit of damage has been done at Albany’s Monteith Riverpark since it was reopened in July after more than a year of reconstruction. The city has deployed its camera trailer at the park to try to...
View ArticleOne more ride before daylight time runs out
It was raining but still light Saturday afternoon when I went on a short bike ride to take advantage of daylight saving time for the last time in 2024. This was on Water Avenue in Albany. Here, take a...
View ArticleA new wrinkle in bike lane markings
Here’s an apparent innovation in pavement markings: a double white line with chevrons denoting the bike lane on the section of Albany’s Queen Avenue that was repaved last month. The meaning of these...
View Article‘Motor voters’ in action at courthouse
There’s a drive-up ballot box on the back side of the Linn County Courthouse in Albany. For a little while there on Monday night, it was a busy place. What these people were doing, besides dropping off...
View ArticleBehold this new RR crossing: Nice job!
On this election day in 2024, everybody is going to be interested in how it went and won’t be looking here. So let me report on something slightly less significant. Last month, the Portland &...
View Article4-2 vote OKs change on Grand Prairie
Residents south of Grand Prairie Road just learned what people elsewhere in Albany learned before: You can’t rely on comprehensive plans or zoning to keep your neighborhood composed of only...
View ArticleAlbany council bans feeding of wildlife
In response to complaints about wild turkeys, the Albany City Council has voted to outlaw the feeding of wildlife except for songbirds and waterfowl. The council adopted the “wildlife control”...
View ArticleSolid colors give wrong impression
On its website, the Oregon Secretary of State does a good job reporting election results on statewide and local contests. The color maps the office produces are helpful, but they also imply that...
View ArticleAlbany considers tax on new construction
Albany city officials would like developers to build housing that more people can afford. To that end, the city council is talking about taking three steps, one of which is enacting an excise tax on...
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