East Coast Greenway
 

A friend and I (years of bicycle touring experience) have discussed riding the ECG from Key West FL to Calais ME. Frankly I'm apprehensive about doing this ride after looking at the ECG interactive map. The ECG is not complete, many of the roads consist of high volume, high speed, and little to no shoulders. Example: US-17 in South Carolina. Are the risks I see in riding the ECG unfounded? Would you recommend riding the ECG? All? Specific parts? Thanks in advance.

In addition to those sections you mention in SC, there are parts of Philadelphia that are sketchy, so I have read. It’s certainly a work in progress, but is far from being anywhere near complete. It’s not on my bucket list,

There is very little about the ECG in PA that is green. The bike lane on busy Frankford Ave. is often used as a parking lane. South of Philly it uses Industrial Highway through the Chester/Eddystone area. The chemical and petroleum fumes in Marcus Hook are lovely.

ACA’s Atlantic Coast route through PA and north is nicer, but you’d have some climbing to do.

My impression is that the ECG is more of a marketing tool than a route that is designed for good riding. There are sections of good riding, but largely that's infrastructure that was planned independent of ECG without any intention of creating a linked network. The result is somewhat arbitrary and circuitous road routes that "connect" bits of cycling infrastructure that happen to be near the coast. Being part of the ECG helps get funding for projects, but there's no sense in which the ECG is or ever will be an enjoyable ride along its full length.

Don't know much about the ECG, but I have read of people taking a ferry from New Jersey to Brooklyn, and then out Long Island where they have a selection of ferries to New Haven, Block Island, etc.
This would bypass Manhattan and the heavily built up Connecticut shore.

Representatives from the East Coast Greenway were at the very first meetings in the early 2000s when the US Bicycle Route System was being resurrected, so they've been around for a while. That being said, ECG has no dedicated funding and they're trying to develop a fully-separated path system in some of the most densely developed areas of the US. So, yes, it's a slow process. I don't see it so much as marketing as working toward an ultimate vision of a desirable facility and route.

I have ridden a few sections of the ECG as part of a different tour. I have 45+ years and 75k+ miles of loaded touring experience. I will not ride their route again. Each section to me was highly unsuitable for touring, or even most cycling. Very heavy traffic (25k AADT), little to no shoulder, high speed, etc. Not enjoyable at all. If wanting to ride the east coast, I would look at ACA's Atlantic Coast Route. While not idea due to being in a very densely populated area, in my opinion, it is far safer than ECG.

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you a wonderful and safe tour!

One interesting thing about the ACA route are the sections in NJ (excluding the NYC spur). NJ is the most densely populated state in the country, yet much of the NJ mileage is traffic-lite to very traffic-light. There is also a nice trail between Frenchtown and Lambertville. You might even see a bear on two while riding through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

”Each section” ?, Really ?. I have ridden a bunch of sections in CT and I see on the map that there’s a bunch of miles on bike trails. How bad were those ?

I don't know if there are "official" sections to ECG, i.e. ACA's TransAm Route, Section 1, but by sections, I meant a portions of the ECG route. Most of which were NOT bike paths. For instance, I have ridden between Savannah and Myrtle Beach. That was just way too much traffic; many places greater than 35k AADT, especially if they locals are not used to seeing cyclists frequently. Sure some of the roads were perfectly fine but overall, this section is not for an inexperienced rider for which it could be very dangerous IMO.

On a different tour, I used the Brunswick to Yulee section. Again lots of traffic and then when it finally died down, it routed out into the countryside adding lots of miles when the road was sub 2000 AADT. Again, some of the roads were fine but overall, this should not be for inexperienced riders.

The first time I used it was on a tour from NYC to Asheville, NC, as part of a larger tour about a decade or so ago. I rode the paved version between near Elizabeth, NJ, and Trenton, and while there frequently was a narrow shoulder or bike lane to ride in, the traffic made it miserable. Once again, not for an inexperienced rider.

I am sure there are portions of the ECG that are wonderful. However, my small sampler was not the least bit enticing me to want to ride the entire route, especially when there are so many other areas in North America to ride in that have way, way, way less traffic.

All that said, ECG does have the most difficult area of the country to create a route. Maybe away from the east coast, we are spoiled with lots of sub 2000 AADT roads. I understand they want to go along the East Coast, but just because you can, doesn't mean you should. They should either not offer an unsuitable route or go away from the coast like ACA did where needed. To me, ECG just has too many high traffic section with small/no shoulder for the ECG to be a route for all riders to enjoy. Yes, I wish them luck in getting a separate bike path along the entire coast (which would be fantastic) but I just don't see that happening for decades unfortunately.

Of course, if you want to ride it, feel free to.

Tailwinds, John

I agree that it appears to not be a particularly enticing route to follow. If you Google the map, it shows that in most of central Conn the route is on the Farmington Trail, which 60 miles or so, but that’s an exception. I agree with you about how it just doesn’t seem to be an enjoyable route to want to follow, it’s s
certainly not on my bucket list.