All seven of the Bay Area’s state-owned toll bridges touch-down in the East Bay counties of Alameda or Contra Costa. Thanks to the organized efforts of bike advocates, three are currently open to bikes, two are under construction and will provide access when completed (although the East Span is being built with a generous bike/ped pathway, the West Span pathway remains unfunded), plus we are currently negotiating for access to the shoulder of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Here is the score:
* Dumbarton Bridge (SR-84) between Newark and East Palo Alto offers unlimited access on a path separated from the roadway by a barrier.
* Antioch Bridge (SR-160) between Antioch and the Sacramento Delta offers unlimited access on a bike lane adjacent to the vehicle travel lane.
* Carquinez (Zampa) Bridge (I-80) from Crockett to Vallejo was dedicated in April 2004 and offers 6am to 9pm access on a path separated from the roadway by a barrier.
* Benicia-Martinez Bridge (I-680) is under construction and a separated path will be installed on the west side of the existing span in 2009 following completion of the new span.
* Bay Bridge (I-80). We celebrate that construction is underway of a separated path on the south side of the East Span replacement for the structure damaged in the 1989 earthquake. We expect to ride between Oakland and Yerba Buena and Treasure Islands by 2013. Efforts are also underway to build the access to the toll plaza area. In 2001 a thorough $2 million West Span study determined that it is feasible to install bicycle/pedestrian/maintenance paths on both sides of the existing suspension span between Yerba Buena Island and San Francisco. Our SFBC/EBBC campaign to “bridge the gap” seeks $200 million to implement the plan.
* Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (I-580) prohibits bicyclists from using the existing 12-foot shoulders despite existing access to the bridge ends and two elaborate studies that show bridge access to be safe and feasible. We are currently participating in another design study to overcome new Caltrans stipulations that bicycle access must be separated from traffic and must preserve a third lane of travel in the peak direction. With the bridge redecking project expected to be completed in 2007, we are building political support to insure that the new roadway accommodates bicyclists.
* Hayward-San Mateo Bridge (SR-92) No direct bicycle access. Advocates were blocked from requiring access on the newly opened “causeway” portion of the bridge.
Indirect bicycle access aboard transit is available for all of the crossings (see:
http://bicycling.511.org/bridges.htm) Images and substantial access discussions on each span can be found using the internal google of
www.ebbc.org. Bottom line, access does not happen without advocacy. Support your local bicycle coalition!