Consultants plan to spring ideas for alternative "designs" of Albany's Water Avenue on the public at a meeting on Thursday (4 p.m. at city hall.) Whatever the alternatives are, one hopes there will be at least one simple one that can be carried out at modest expense.

People don't ask much of a street: Pavement should be smooth and wide enough. Sidewalks would help. Parking would be nice, too, so people can leave their cars and go for a stroll along the Dave Clark Riverside Path.

What more does anyone want?

Let us hope that this does not become another million-dollar "streetscape." The city of Albany spent about that much on fixing up the sidewalks along four blocks of First Avenue. In retrospect, smoothing out the sidewalk and adding some benches and trees should have been done for less. (It's kind of pleasant to sit on those benches on a balmy summer evening and enjoy the quiet. But if you sit there during the day, you mostly look at parked cars.)

The idea of finding a design for Water Avenue is driven by the pending development projects along the street. What those projects need mainly is a solution to the railroad issue. The first priority ought to be latching on to federal funding for relocating the rail line away from the riverfront.

As for the street itself, Water Avenue turns out to be a useful thoroughfare between east and west Albany along the river: No traffic lights to hold you up, and a very ample underpass below the approach to the railroad bridge. It is high enough not to scalp trucks.

So the main thing the avenue needs is standard pavement along with sidewalks and parking for riverfront visitors.

Well, that was easy - design problem solved. Send the consulting fee here. (hh)