One Day Only: Cyclists Get Full Access to Port Bridges
Bridges temporarily closed Sunday
Thursday, Jan 7, 2010 | Updated 3:00 PM PST
AP
It's no Amgen Tour of California -- but still -- all access to the port bridges will be quite an event.
Two of the three huge bridges connecting Terminal Island to San Pedro and the rest of the world will be closed at times Sunday morning to give bicyclists their first-ever opportunity to ride across them legally and safely.
Carpeted wooden planks will be bolted to the bridges to cover the bridges' metal expansion joints, which could eat bicycle tires if not covered up, ride organizer Bo Smith said. "This is a very complicated operation."
The American Diabetes Association Los Angeles chapter has obtained permits for a fundraiser that will include opportunities for recreational riders, or hard-core cyclists, to ride from the Queen Mary across the Gerald Desmond and Vincent Thomas bridges in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
"As far as we know, something like this has never been done on these bridges," said Smith. Both bridges have four traffic lanes but no sidewalks or shoulders, and are normally patrolled to prevent illegal pedestrians or bicyclists.
The bridge ride is a part of the nationwide Diabetes Association "Tour de Cure" fundraiser. Proceeds go to research efforts and for public information outreach programs, including a diabetes hotline that answered 360,000 phone calls last year, mostly from people just diagnosed with the blood-sugar disease.
Starting from the Queen Mary in Long Beach, persons paying $25 for a bib and donating the suggested $150 to the Diabetes research charity can ride west across the Desmond Bridge, cross Terminal Island, and then cross the landmark green Thomas suspension bridge.
Persons who wish to ride just those 11 miles can then board Spirit Cruise harbor excursion boats for a ride back to Long Beach, but three other tour routes will continue west to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The longest, a 60-mile run, includes a loop around the big hills via the various Palos Verdes drives.
A small, family ride loop will stick to the Queen Mary area.
During the ride, access to Terminal Island will be maintained via a third route, the Schuyler Heim Bridge, via the Terminal Island (47) Freeway from Wilmington. The charity notes that Sunday traffic in the harbor area is typically very light.
Persons interesting in riding over the bridges can either sign up via the Web site, www.diabetes.org/tour-shiptoshore or arrive at the Queen Mary, at the southern terminus of the Long Beach (710) Freeway, before 6 a.m. Sunday.
