Although the Alex Zuckerman Path on the eastern span of the Bay Bridge has been partially open for over three years—making it literally a bridge to nowhere—the final short segment to Treasure Island was opened only this past fall and then only on weekends. The reason for the weekday closure was Caltrans’s concern that the ongoing demolition of the old Bay Bridge span posed a potential danger to any users on the new path. Whether that is in fact true or not, Caltrans has finally relented and agreed to open the path to weekday traffic starting next Friday, May 5. This is according to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and the East Bay Bicycle Coalition. You can read about at the sfgate.com site here.
If you haven’t ridden on the Bay Bridge path yet, it’s worth a visit especially now that it’s open all the way to Yerba Buena and Treasure Islands. Although you can drive and park near the beginning of the Alex Zuckerman path, it’s very easy to access by BART. From the Macarthur station you can take the 40th Street bikeway down to the Emeryville IKEA store to catch the beginning of the path. During the early stage of the demolition of the old bridge, it was startling to see that structure literally being taken down piece by piece; now there is but a remnant left. The bonus is that the old bridge no longer obscures the view of the Peninsula!
Yerba Buena Island has no businesses to speak of; Treasure Island has some food stands on the western waterfront as well as a couple of small restaurants now. The view of SF as well as of Berkeley from TI is not transcendent but it is unique and worth the visit. Just be sure to go on a clear, sunny day. It’s a short bike trip out and back but you can easily extend it by taking the San Francisco Bay Trail north as far as Richmond.
The Chain Letter 