When the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge is (hopefully) completed in 2014, it's going have a bike path allowing people of the pedal-powered persuasion to get from the East Bay to Treasure Island.
That's all well and good but Treasure Island is only halfway to San Francisco. Both cycling advocates and pedestrians interested in making the nearly four and a half mile stroll from one side of the bay to the other are chomping at the bit to get a corresponding bike lane installed on the bridge's western span, which was seismically retrofitted in 2004 and won't be undergoing anything approaching the eastern span's complete overhaul.
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If constructed, a path on the western span would likely connect to the $100 million eastern span bike lane around the back side of Yerba Buena Island. Much like on the Golden Gate Bridge, there would a path running along each side of the bridge that could also be used as a way for Caltrans personnel to access the bridge to perform maintenance that would have previously required them to close lanes of traffic.
On Tuesday evening, Caltrans is hosting an open house to present several different design options for the bike path. (Read more...)
