Bridge Access Data
 

Whenever I travel, I have a hard time finding out whether bridges in another area are accessible to cyclists. So I thought it would be a good idea to have a bridge access data thread. No debates or whining in this thread, just a listing of your geographic area, the bridges that are accessible by bicycle, and which bridges are off-limits. Additional information - such as whether access is by road or path, any wheel swallowing expansion joints, or any buses that might take bikes over prohibited bridges - is always welcome. If there's any discussion, save that for the Bikes on Big Bridges thread.

For Ca:
http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/shuttle.htm

For Ohio I found this:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FERRY SERVICES BETWEEN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~the OHIO MAINLAND and the LAKE ERIE ISLANDS~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The State Route 2 Bridge across Sandusky Bay is not open to bicycle travel.
The land route between Port Clinton and Sandusky is via Fremont (35 miles)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OTTAWA COUNTY DEPARTURE POINTS

JET EXPRESS (Dock & Ticket Terminal)
5 North Jefferson Street
Port Clinton, OH 43452

Operational weekends April 30-Oct. 31, 2004 and daily, May 14-Sept. 26, 2004
More information: www.jet-express.com or 1-800-245-1538

Port Clinton to Put-In-Bay One Way Round Trip
Adults, Saturday and Sunday
$12.00
$22.00
Adults, Weekday Discount
NA
$20.00
Evening Discount, Sunday through Friday, no holidays
Leave at 3:45 p.m., return same day
NA
$16.00
Bicycles, each bike
$2.50
$5.00

KELLEYS ISLAND FERRY
Foot of Francis Street
Marblehead, OH 43440

More information: www.neumanferry.com or 1-800-876-1907

Catawba Point to Kelleys Island
Adults, Round Trip
$9.50 (1999 fares)
Bicycles
$3.50 (1999 fares)
Autos
$16.50 (1999 fares)

MILLER BOAT LINE
Miller Ferry Dock (north end of SR 53)
Catawba Point, OH

More information: www.millerferry.com or 1-800-500-2421

One Way Fare, from Catawba Island
to Put-In-Bay
to Middle Bass Island
Adults
$5.50
$8.00
Bicycles
$2.00
$2.00
Cars/Vans
$13.00
$17.00



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ERIE COUNTY DEPARTURE POINTS

THE ISLAND ROCKET
Columbus Avenue Pier
Sandusky, OH

Operational Memorial Day to Labor Day

More information: www.islandrocket.com or 1-800-854-8121

Adult Fares One Way Round Trip
Sandusky to Cedar Point
$3.00
$6.00
Sandusky to Kelleys Island
$12.00
$22.00
Sandusky to Put-In-Bay
$14.00
$25.00
Sandusky to both Put-In-Bay and Kelleys Island
and return to Sandusky in same day
NA

$32.00

Port Clinton to Put-in-Bay Excursion
$10.00
$17.00
Bicycle, each
$2.50


PELEE ISLANDER
Pelee Transportation
Sandusky, Ohio

Reservations required for motor vehicles, and are accepted between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

More information: www.pelee.org or 1-800-661-2220 (Sandusky) or 1-519-326-2154 (Leamington, Ontario)

One Way Fare
Sandusky to Pelee Island
Pelee Island to Leamington or Kingsville, Ontario
Sandusky to Leamington or Kingsville, Ontario
Adult
$13.75
$7.50
$21.25
Child
$6.75
$3.75
$10.50
Senior
$11.25
$6.25
$17.50
Fee per Bicycle
$6.50
$3.75
$10.25
Motorcycle
$14.50
$8.25
$22.75
Cars/Trucks/RV’s
see website for prices, which vary with vehicle length and height

ferry.doc 7/1/04

There's a LOT more, key word I used were Bridge access, Bicycle, DOT

San Diego... no access for cyclists to the Coronado Bay Bridge... to get to Coronado, cyclists must either use the ferry from downtown to Coronado for $3.50 each way, or for an alternate route: ride many many miles south to the strand and access the bike path there. According to Gmap, that alternate route is about 20 miles long.... one way.

Twin Cities
 

Twin Cities

These are only the limited access Freeway bridges.

With Bike Accomodations:

• 494 Over the Minnesota River between Bloomington and Eagan
• 35E over the Mississippi River between Mendota Heights and St. Paul
• 94 Bridge over the St. Croix River Between Minnesota and Wisconsin
• Mendota Bridge (hwy 55) over the Mississippi River between Mendota and Mpls (not a freeway but almost)
• 694 Bridge over the Mississippi between Fridley and Brooklyn Center

Without Bike Accomodations:
* Cedar Bridge (Hwy 77) over the Minnesota River between Bloomington and Eagan* 35W over the Minnesota Between Burnsville and Bloomington* 494 over the Mississippi between So. St. Paul and Newport* 94 over the Mississppi between Mpls and St. Paul* 35W over the Mississippi in Minneapolis* 169 Bridge over the Minnesota RiverThe only bridge I'm allowed on but avoid anyway is the Stillwater lift bridge. I go up to Osceola, YMMV.
I'm not a big fan of the bridge out of Hastings on 61 but I'll ride it in a pinch.

Brian, thank you for pointing out one of the most glaring deficiencies in this country's roadway system. In many parts of San Diego County, the only direct link from Point A to Point B is a limited-access freeway bridge.

In New York City the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson into New Jersey has a bike/ped lane. One the other side and nearly the other end of the manhatten Island the Brooklyn Bridge has a Ped/bike path.

In the San Francisco Bay area the Antioch, Carquinez Straits, and Golden Gate bridges have bike access. The other bridges force you to hope there is space on a bike rack on a transit bus going over the bridge.

In Saint Louis the old Chain of Rocks Bridge, the one with the bend in the middle, once used by Route 66, is for bikes and peds. And sometimes, with a special permit, Rte 66 tour group vehicles. As I recall this may be the first bridge across the river in the ara, by Eads, ???? years ago.

In the 1988 RAAM we had to leap-frog riders over the bridge into Alton (home of the Worlds' tallest man) as it was closed to cyclists. It may have changed.

Of ten bridges across the Mississippi at St. Louis, three (from north to south: Clark, Old Chain of Rocks, Eads) have bicycle access. Whether a forth bridge (Jefferson Barracks) has bicycle access may depend on who you ask. Of six bridges across the Missouri River, three (Lewis, Discovery, Creve Coeur Park) have bicycle access.

The Eads Bridge, completed in 1874, was indeed the first bridge over the Mississippi at St. Louis and is an engineering marvel of its day (or any day, for that matter) but the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge is not it.

The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge is significant historically as the bridge usually associated with Route 66 in St. Louis (although it's actually not the only bridge Route 66 ever came over at St. Louis). Old Chain of Rocks provides some great views of the river including a couple of Gothic style city water intake towers that look like castles. And, yes, there's an interesting bend in the middle of the bridge.

Eads Bridge is farther south, just north of the Gateway Arch. It also has bicycle access. In addition, you can ride across Eads Bridge on Metrolink. There are three bridges (as well as a multi-use path) between Eads and Chain of Rocks (Merchants, McKinley, Martin Luther King), none of which have bicycle access. The new Chain of Rocks Bridge, just north of the old one, also has no bicycle access.

It has changed. The relatively new Lewis and Clark Bridges are bicycle friendly (Lewis across the Missouri, Clark across the Mississippi at Alton).

Returning to the Mississippi:

Just south of the Arch, the 'PSB' (Poplar Street Bridge, officially the Bernard Dickman Bridge although nobody calls it that) carries four different Interstate highways (I-55, I-64, I-70, I-44) and is not for bicycles. Just south of that, the MacArthur Bridge is privately owned and is permantly closed.

Further to the south, there's the J-B bridge (Jefferson Barracks). This is an Interstate highway (I-255) although apparently bicycles are not prohibited on the bridge or on the highway in Missouri but are prohibited on the highway in Illinois. So, while you could probably ride across the bridge, you can't legally get to or from it on the Illinois side.

JRA,

Please explain "bicycle access" and "bicycle friendly" as relating to the bridges over the Mississippi. Does that mean a lane, shoulder or sidewalk separate from the traffic lanes, or low traffic counts on wide traffic lanes with no shoulder, or just no signs prohibiting riding in the traffic lanes with no other provisions for cyclists?

Good question, ILTB. And JRA (or anyone else who wants to chime in), if you include things like lack of a bike lane/shoulder/sidewalk/wide lane/high traffic count as being bicycle unfriendly, please explain why this is justification for banning cyclists on bridges but not on surface streets.

The Lewis and Clark Bridges which go north from St. Louis to Alton have bicycle lanes. Going west across the Missouri to St. Charles, the Discovery Bridge (Highway 370) has a rideable shoulder and the recently completed Creve Coeur Bridge (a.k.a. Page Avenue extension) supposedly has bike lanes. Going east, the most practical way to cross the Mississippi is probably to take Metrolink. Eads Bridge has 13-foot outside lanes and a 5 foot sidewalk and the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge is bicycle/pedestian only.

Trailnet has pages, with pictures, devoted to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge and Eads Bridge (I see that the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge was built in 1929).

For bridge enthusiasts, there are more pictures on Wikipedia:
Chain of Rocks Bridge
Eads Bridge
Clark Bridge (a.k.a. The Superbridge)

Thanks for the clarification.