Proposed Bike Path For Western Bay Bridge Span Could Cost $3 Million
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) – Bay Area transit officials are considering a multi-million dollar plan that could bring a new pedestrian and bike lane to the western span of the Bay Bridge.
The bike lane would connect Treasure Island with San Francisco and allow cyclists to ride all the way from Oakland to SF.
A proposed plan for a pedestrian and bike lane from Treasure Island to San Francisco would come at the cost of about $300 million. That comes to about $100 million per mile
The new report on the proposal cost close to $10 million according to John Goodwin with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
Transit officials estimate as many as 10,000 people per day could eventually use the bike lane, including the 24,000 people who will live in the high-rise apartment buildings going up on Treasure Island
"The potential game changer is the advent of the electric-assisted bike, which can get you moving at about 20 mile per hour," said Goodwin.
The idea is for the San Francisco bike lane to connect with the existing bike path that is already on the eastern span of the Bay Bridge and create a bike route all the way across the bay.
The real political force behind this plan are bicycle advocates like San Francisco Bike Coalition leader Brian Wiedenmeier who make it to every MTC meeting to push for more bike lanes, even expensive ones like this.
"We know the Bay Bridge is at capacity," explained Wiedenmeier. "We make sure our members know about it, so they turn out as well."
While those thousands of vocal members of the Bike Coalition might only be a fraction of the number of people who drive across the Bay Bridge on a daily basis, that well-organized block of voters will likely have their voices heard.
The questions of how the bike and pedestrian lane construction would be funded and the impact that construction might have on Bay Bridge vehicle traffic have yet to be answered.