A community came together Tuesday Sept 3, in celebration of a beautiful new bike path adorning the south side of the new Bay Bridge, and then over the course of its first week, tens of thousands of people made an afternoon of it to take in views of the old bridge, San Francisco Bay and the East Bay hills. They also seemed to enjoy the excitement of one of the most beautiful new bridges in the world.
On its opening night, 2,000 people joined Bike East Bay in celebrating the new bike path by bicycling from West OaklandBART out onto the bridge, and on Tuesday morning Oakland Mayor Jean Quan helped cut the chain with the Zuckermann Family to celebrate the path opening. The path is named after our founder Chair Alexander Zuckermann, who passed away in 2007. Alex’s two sons and their families were in attendance. Many Caltrans staff and officials along with representatives of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission hopped on their bikes or walked out onto the pathway to celebrate with everyone. They enjoyed a wonderful rare moment in time when all can agree we’re doing something right.
We expect demand to remain high for people checking out the new scenic bikeway, particularly if our warm weather continues. If you are going out onto the bike path soon, remember to bring lots of water. There are porto-potties near the sawtooth building, not far from the take off of the bridge. Other than than, you’re largely on your own until Gateway Park opens in a few years and really makes the touchdown shine.
Many thanks from Bike East Bay to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission for funding this new bike path and opening it on Day 1 of the new bridge, to Caltrans for building such a well-designed new facility, to Mayor Quan and her team for hopping on bikes to ride the new path, to the Oakland Police, the CHPand Emeryville Police for making sure everyone was safe today, and to the Hot Italian Pizzaria for feeding us afterwards.