The confluence of the Willamette and Calapooia Rivers was significant to the native Kalapuya peoples and to early European settlers who eventually built the city at this unique intersection of rivers, roads, and railroads.

Albany is one of last major cities on the Willamette to invest in its riverfront and today, the riverfront is separated from downtown Albany by parking lots, Water Avenue, railroad tracks, and is missing sidewalks and crossing options. The connection between downtown Albany and its waterfront has become largely hidden by thick foliage and poor water access.

Over time, the City has been taking steps to reestablish downtown Albany’s connection with its rivers. In recent years, the City has been preserving waterfront properties for public use, using the Central Albany Revitalization Area to make strategic investments in downtown, and planning improvements to Water Avenue and the waterfront parks.

Now, the City is taking the next steps in this long-standing effort to improve Albany’s waterfront and how it connects to downtown. The expectation is that new waterfront redevelopment will ultimately create one of the most unique downtowns in the state of Oregon. When complete, the riverfront will be a major downtown anchor, connecting the community to the river to which it was historically connected.

This project will create plans to improve Water Avenue, Monteith Park, and the publicly owned portion of the riverfront and Dave Clark Trail. The project area includes up to 24 acres of park space and 14 blocks of streetscape along Water Avenue between Monteith Park and Main Street.

This process is expected to generate a final design concept by Summer 2020 and a final design is expected to be ready for City Council approval by Spring 2021. A phased approach to construction will allow for individual projects to be built over time. Pending final review, approval, and permitting, it may be possible to begin construction of individual projects as soon as Fall/Winter of 2021. The cost has not been determined.

You can find out more at the Albany Waterfront Project website.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2020-10-18 11:23:18

Last Update: 2020-10-18 13:10:07