Bay Bridge Bikers and Hikers Get a Vista Point -- and Daily Access to Span

Sept. 3, 2013. That was the day that the Alexander Zuckermann Bicycle-Pedestrian Path opened across the brand-new eastern span of the Bay Bridge (the span had opened to motor vehicles the previous day).

But the mostly wonderful new facility has always had a few kinks in it. It took until last October for Caltrans to open the path to its full promised length, to Yerba Buena Island. And for most of the path's three years and eight months in service, it has been open only on weekends as crews worked to dismantle the bridge's seismically challenged old eastern span.

That's changing Tuesday with the dedication of a vista point on Yerba Buena Island and the path's new seven-day-a-week schedule.

The $2 million vista point -- with financing split 50-50 between the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and the Bay Area Toll Authority -- will give those who roll and stroll across the bridge a commanding view of the Port of Oakland and the southern reaches of San Francisco Bay. The facility includes drinking fountains, benches, restrooms and bike racks.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Jane Kim -- she represents District 6, which includes Yerba Buena Island -- will be among the officials on hand for Tuesday's 10 a.m. dedication.

The public is invited to attend. There will be no party favors, transportation authority Eric Young said in reply to a question -- but there's still something cool in store for visitors.

"The view alone will be gift enough," he said.

The vista point's opening coincides with Caltrans' opening of the bike/pedestrian path on weekdays. The public had limited access to the route on weekdays because of the long process of dismantling the old eastern span's steel superstructure.

Caltrans says the path will be closed intermittently for future bridge work, including the removal of the old span's remaining piers later this year. But for now, the path is to be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. The evening hours will be extended to 9 p.m. starting Memorial Day weekend and continuing through Labor Day, Sept. 4.

Transportation officials are still discouraging cyclists and pedestrians from attempting to make their way from the end of the Bay Bridge path down to Treasure Island.

"If you're doing that, you're sharing the road with sometimes big vehicles -- there's still construction going on in the area -- as well as steep grades and a lot of blind curves," Young said. "It's a very challenging ride.'

On weekends, shuttles equipped with bike racks are available to carry visitors between the Bay Bridge path and Treasure Island. Young said that the shuttles have been carrying 75 to 80 people per day on Saturday and Sunday.

The next step in the great Oakland-to-San Francisco bike/hike route is construction of a path from the vista point area down to Treasure Island -- a project that's expected to take another two years or so.

After that is another ambitious project -- a bike/pedestrian path across the Bay Bridge's long western span. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission has come up with some preliminary designs for such an undertaking. But so far, no one's figured out where to get the money -- likely several hundred million dollars -- to build it.