Longest bikeable bridge in US
 

Very strange question. What is it? 7 mile bridge down in the FL Keys or is there something longer that is legally bikeable?

Yeah, given the right time of day, nighttime during the summer months and probably anytime during the winter months, Lake Ponchatrain(sp?) would be a sweet ride but bikes aren't allowed. No, I wouldn't want to even try it during daylight hours during the summer months. I watched the pop-ups while down in that area this summer...starting as early as 10AM. No thank you on a bridge that darn long...definitely not safe.

Bridge accross the mouth of the Columbia river? From Astoria to Dismal Nitch.
legally bikeable?
and
Good idea are 2 different things

Doesn't seem like a strange question. Actually, some enterprising person could make a handy web page about biking over bridges since they're often a big problem for cyclists esp tourers. Locally, it was nice when the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge (interstate that crosses Potomac just south of DC) included a wide bike/ped path. But Chesapeake Bay Bridge bans bikes, riders need to hire the taxi to cross for $25.

Much of the bay bridge is metal grate. No sane biker would dare WANT to cross it.

I rode around Lake Pontchartrain in a day once; the distance was north of 150 miles. I'd rather ride around the lake than over that bridge!

How would you score it? Where is the start/finish of the bridge? The onramp or the expansion crack or the toll booth... I'm sure there must be a formal definition of such things, for world records or taxation turf.

Wikipedia says,
Note: There is no standard way to measure the total length of a bridge. Some bridges are measured from the beginning of the entrance ramp to the end of the exit ramp. Some are measured from shoreline to shoreline. Yet others are the length of the total construction involved in building the bridge. Since there is no standard, no ranking of a bridge should be assumed because of its position in the list. Additionally, numbers are merely estimates and measures in U.S. customary units (feet) may be imprecise due to conversion rounding.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_in_the_world

The new Bay Bridge from Oakland to SF has a bike path but it's not finished yet. The website says they need to finish demolishing the old west span before finishing it. Google Maps cycling directions from Oakland to SF uses the ferry. I'm thinking it will be about five miles but it's sort of cheating, since it's two bridges with an island in the middle.

BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN PATH | Bay Bridge Info

None of the SF Bay area bridges are all that long. Currently I think the longest bikeable one is the Dumbarton at about 4.5 miles. The Antioch, Benicia (I-680), and Vallejo (I-80) bridges are all open to bikes but are much shorter. The Richmond (I-580) bridge is supposed to open to bikes in another year or so and would be about 6 miles. And even after they finish demolishing the old east span of the Bay Bridge the bike path will only take you to Treasure Island from Oakland - not all the way to SF.

Planned
Would You Ride a Bicycle Across Europe's 2nd Longest Bridge? - CityLab

A 2009 article cites the Humber Bridge in England as the longest you can cycle.
Real cycling: Humber Bridge is herm sweet herm

The map at the website shows the planned bike path headed down the west span toward SF. The map is a year old. I wonder what the plan or status is.

There are some proposals to have a bike/ped path on the west span, but the cost of the current ones has been judged to be too high. So there are some efforts underway to develop a less costly alternative but I haven't seen any results of that effort yet. At this point it seems to be just speculative that there will be an extension of the path to SF over the western span.

LA1 Project

I've looked for biking info on the internet, but I can find none. They have 9 miles of it complete. It has no bike lane, but wide shoulders and lots of oil industry traffic.

Not a continuous bridge, but it seems like you can bike most of the Florida Keys, including a seven mile bridge. Although I notice that when I put the Keys route into Google, there's at least one section that says, "walk your bike the next 4 miles." I don't know if that means that biking is not allowed, or if Google just doesn't want to tell you to do it.
Cycling the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail| VisitFlorida.com

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4 miles


yes, you can even walk your bike, but you cannot walk it without a bike.*

Quote:

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and, Good idea are 2 different things

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try calling a Taxi then, some in Astoria have bike racks , they can take 2 bikes across .

Dismal Nitch is a WA state highway rest area with a million dollar WC. a couple miles east of the bridge

*Once a year there is a Columbia crossing run/walk, traffic halted for a few hours . it is this weekend [10/11/15]

http://www.greatcolumbiacrossing.com/

The trouble is people are different and their experience/comfort levels are different. For me, I would much rather ride the interstates then the state highways anytime, anywhere. It's much safer and after the nightmare I had getting around CT last month, much quicker as well.

I rode across the 3 mile Pensacola Bay Bridge(PBB) this summer and it was a hoot, even with heavy traffic. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Very strange riding having nothing anywhere around you but water, hence why I say the Lake Pontchartrain Bridge would be fun, at the right time of day/year...27 miles of nothing but water on either side you...definitely would be a freaky feeling. The only problem I had with the PBB was seeing the dumb, offensive signs saying their is a $25 fine for fixing a flat tire on the bridge...fine than get out and sweep the darn shoulder of the bridge so I won't have to worry about getting a flat on the bridge you dumb morons.

I didn't realize it was actually that far across SF. I've never been in CA so I am very ignorant to how wide the bay is out there.

Golden Gate span is roughly 2 KM, though the approaches from the 2 ends add to that , 6 traffic lanes
sorta wide sidewalks with a bend around the towers. under it, 67m clearance at high tide

Astoria Megler bridge is actually 2 cantilever truss bridges , 1 over the International Shipping channel is higher,

there is a lower rise one on the WA side , 6.5 KM includes the causeway between them .. and is 2 lanes, + a bit on the edges.

60m clearance at high slack tide (most ship traffic is then)

anyone want to crowd fund a summer ferry to be built just to get bikes and people across?

the puget island- westport one is well upstream .. quite a ways.

Mackinac Bridge from the Lower to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan is open to bicycle one da (Labor Day per year to peds and cyclists.

I've been across the Pontc. bridge a hundred times. In a big truck. I can assure you there is a hell of a lot more than water on either side of you. Narrow shoulder bordered by a truck traffic lane on your left and a barrier blockade wall on your right. Splat or splash (after a 20 ft. fall). The speed limit is 70mph for cars and 55 for big trucks, who are regulated to stay in the right lane. There are LA State Cops that target nothing but big truck violating the rules. In 75mph states I was a left lane driver with a 128mph truck. On that bridge....I was a good boy. You on a bike would not get me out of the right lane.

There were roads that had "No Trucks" signs. I took that as a warning that I didn't want to be on it. On a bike I take "No Bikes" as the same warning and wouldn't touch it....or even give a second though to trying.

Darwin had a theory about that.

Pacific Transit System - Home Page
Pacific county Wa, will take you from astoria, Or, too Dismal Nitch Wa, and other places for $0.50.
As for the ferry, the mouth of the Columbia river is considered the most dangerous shipping lane in the world.

How safe are bridges for cycling. I had to push my bike into rain and wind to get accross the hood canel bridge. The wind slamed me into the wall a dozen times or more. I crossed the road, and walked into traffic. Glad the wind pushed me into the wall and not a speeding car. The guy on the motor cycle did not make it. He had to get helped off the bridge.

The last time I was at the Hood Canal Bridge, it was at the bottom of the sound. ;)

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I don't get it.

AFAIK much/all of metal grating has been replaced with pavement. Metal grating is a bit dangerous but usually OK when riding in straight line. I'm more comfortable crossing bridges on a bike than a car. On a bike it's pretty impossible to topple over railing but in a truck it happens frequently & cars can actually climb overboard too. Anyway it blows that so many bridges don't allow bikes--adding a ped/bike apron would increase cost by what, 2%?

Drove down to Key West once & wondered about feasibility of cycling from Miami-Key West. Didn't see any bikes on the route (in contrast to large # of bikers in mainland South Florida) though it turns out to be legal.

Well DC doesn't have long bridges but bike tourists can rest assured that all the local bridges have nice bike paths where we can zoom past cars during rush hour.

I don't know what the longest bridge in the US is but this seemed like the longest one I've ridden over lately.
That back and forth is actually my forearms pinging off the 2x4 rails while trying to hold a gopro on a stick to film my illustrious performance... not.

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I like the French Millau Viaduct bridge: wide shoulder for disabled vehicles & also tall safety railings incl transparent wind-blocking strips that make truck traffic safer. Bridge doesn't allow bikes but OTOH bicyclists can use the old route thru the valley w/o going out of their way.