Xing Corpus Christi Bay Bridge
 

I been playing around with possible 2016 tour ideas. Question: how does a cyclist cross the Corpus Christi Bay Harbor Bridge?

>You used to be able to take a 'scenic' detour down Navigation and cross on the old lift bridge...but they tore the lift bridge down. Funny how we can't afford to maintain the infrastructure we once built.

>It seems to be against city ordinance to actually ride across the bridge. This option isn't terribly appealing anyway - no shoulders & motor vehicle traffic moving at 50+mph relative speed. Fun fact: the current bridge was designed during a 'bike bust' period almost exactly between the American bicycle booms of the late 1930s and early 1970s.

>The pedestrian walkways seem to be open only for special events due to security concerns. From pictures, the walkways don't appear to be much wider than panniers, so it looks like that would be kind of a slow, awkward squeeze, anyway.

>The new bridge is ~supposed~ to have pedestrian and cyclist accommodation. It's scheduled to be complete in 2020. I've always thought Corpus was cool, but I really didn't want to hang around that long.

>Corpus seems to have cracked down on Uber and Lyft. The city has normal, regulated taxi service.

>A cyclist can latch their bike onto the rack of a #76 or #78 city bus. It'd be a bit of a pain to strip all one's touring dunnage off the bike and schlep it aboard the bus, but ultimately no step for a stepper, right?

Have I missed any options short of a 45 mile detour? Water taxi? Gondola? Zip line?

Thanks!

Aaaaaand the new bridge will not be finished in 2020.

IIRC there was a water taxi across the harbor mouth one summer. Discontinued due to budget? lack of users?

Apparently an intrepid cyclist took the lane and rode the old bridge.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f95b4b5135.jpg

I understand authorities were not amused.

The tourist board tells me the post 9-11 panic has faded with time and the narrow, trashy walkways on the old bridge are in fact open.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4e0158754d.png
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2f64ca0200.png


Work on the new bridge continues.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a71a9d5de1.png

But, and it's a big but, the design firm for the new harbor spanning cable-stay bridge (longest in the US!) kinda had another bridge they designed, well, the technical term is 'collapse'. TexDOT said, 'hey, wow, gnarly' and did what's known as fired them, then spent 8 months finding some other company to take over.

Anyway, when (if) it gets built, it's gonna be *****in': bay side, 205 feet above the water, main span 1661' long, great views, barrier separated from motor vehicle traffic.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...970d7af81a.png

Latest: maybe 2023.

I remember riding over the bridge on my bike while I was still in high school. The pedestrian walkway wasn't too narrow for my early 90s mountain bike.

Great fishing under that bridge.

I never caught a thing under that bridge! I did see someone reel in an eel though.

On bike, I have crossed bridge to Surfside from mainland, and have crossed San Luis Pass bridge, on a ride from Galveston, and on another trip from Surfside.
Things went pretty well. On San Luis, traffic gave me space. There is a good shoulder on Surfside bridge.

Debris collects along the sides of these bridges - for the most part, it cannot just get blown away like on a regular road. So, the edges can be trashy. If you ride a bridge with these conditions, you need to be wary if you feel tempted to go fast on the descent.

Bridges can be very windy. And, gusty. So, you need to be prepared to get hit hard at any moment by wind. I have ridden across Lake Ray Hubbard, metroplex, on 66, and been hit hard by gusts.

Corpus is landlocked on the north and south sides. The new bridge won’t be finished for years, 2027 or 2028 if they are lucky, its a debacle. The walkway on the old bridge is open but perilous to ride because its so narrow. The JFK causeway bridge is tight and close to suicidal due to heavy traffic and everyone watching the bay instead of the car in front of them. Often I stop on the causeway, before the bridge, and hitchhike to the other side, thank god theres so many trucks in Texas.

Have fun

Well, there's the #65 Padre Island bus (with bike rack). Doesn't run very often, though.

Fun fact: back when the Kennedy Causeway was a toll bridge, bicyclists paid a toll of 10¢.

Bass or carp?

Work on the Harbor Bridge continues. Here one of the construction cranes lifts a Port-A-Potty into place:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...cd3f272b79.png


Well, at least they haven't had to tear any of it down and start over (looking at you, Houston's new Beltway 8 bridge over the ship channel!)

Uh, no. TxDOT has suspended work on the bridge due to some minor concerns that the big towers are sinking into the mud and the bridge might collapse under certain conditions.

The contractor has not agreed to any remedial action and further announced they are reassigning crews and equipment to other construction projects. This is either brinksmanship or the contractor is going to 'walk away'.

I hope nobody was planning on riding across that beautiful cycling deck on the bay side of the bridge, 200+ feet above the water, any time soon.

Aaaaand the new bridge probably won't be ready before, oh, say 2030 or so.

Old thread warning, if that sort of thing gets your knickers in a twist.

Work restarted sometime back and good progress is being made. Maybe another two years?

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...97ea6c4dc7.jpg

Hey, new cable-stayed Beltway 8/Ship Channel bridge - where's YOUR bike lane? Huh? Huh?

Old thread warning, you know, so hecho de furia if that's your thing, muchachos.

They celebrated a golden spike moment on the new Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge bridge deck last month. They are now saying it will open in June 2025. It's still not clear how they plan to get the cycle lane safely across the access/feeder/frontage road on the north side.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...092b2a1a08.png


Texas cyclists need to make sure all new bridges in the state have safe cycling accommodations. We have to get involved decades before they pour concrete. My understanding is the second span of the Houston Beltway 8 bridge will have a segregated bike lane.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8767549d94.png

Ride around the entire CC bay!
 

Sounds great! Soon, you could ride around the entire CC bay! By way of Port A! That might be 40 or 50 miles total.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d8ae3a7d62.jpg

Who will be the first cyclist across the new bridge?

Hoping it’s you! Thanks for keeping us posted on the progress of this bridge.

Might take me a while to get out to that area again.

The important point is when a major new bridge is planned, cyclists have to get involved. Otherwise we can get frozen out for ~75 years.

Anyway, the Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge sort of opened yesterday. Traffic is crossing southbound. The northbound side has not opened yet. The potentially very cool bike lane is not open yet. It is still incomplete and abruptly ends on the north side in the middle of what will be 6~8 lanes of merging motor vehicle traffic. Best case, I'm estimating 4~5 more months for the bike lane to be opened.

Motor vehicle traffic is now crossing the new bridge in both directions. As for the bike lane...this morning:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7eba2adc99.jpg

Texas cyclist Jonathan Martin was the first official, legal cyclist ON the new bridge.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8aead14101.png

Congratulations!

But, and it's a big but, the bridge is not open for crossing yet. It remains barricaded up at the top, and a complete crossing to the north side remains impossible. No timeline has been posted for bridge completion, including the bike/pedestrian lane's safe, traffic-protected integration with North Beach surface streets.

We've waited for ten years, so a bit more time to do the job right is fine. The issue is that with the bridge contractor and TXDoT refusal to issue a weather-permitted completion timeline for the bike/pedestrian lane, it can turn into a 'First of Never' completion date.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e019e3f323.png

And yes, after just under a decade, it's OPEN. Very quiet announcement buried in a "Traffic Advisory" press release:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...33a363d768.png

I used google maps and other sites to figure out the bike lane. It seems like it is totally on the south side of the bridge? I will have to get down there some weekend, from Houston, and spend time figuring out how I might cycle the bridge, and how I might include it in a circumnavigation of Corpus Cristi Bay.

Yeah, the protected path is on the Gulf of America side. South, there's a big curved ramp that comes up out of D/T. North, the path seems to go down and end @ a crosswalk? And then you get over to surface streets...somehow. I haven't seen an aerial view or map yet, but hey, TXDoT has been working on this for a decade, so I'm sure it's great.

Next up, the Beltway 8 Bridge over the Houston Ship Channel.

I rode with some riders from Corpus this past weekend in Goliad. They did the Bike the Bay ride a couple weeks ago and alluded to the bridge being open for cyclist. I've not seen anything on any other social media about it. Maybe I need to ping some peeps; the bridge looks cool and safer to ride up over than the Fred Hartman.