Carquinez Strait's New Narrow Path Opens for Hikers and Bikers

Carquinez Strait's New Narrow Path Opens for Hikers and Bikers
By Lanz Christian Bañes/Times-Herald staff writer

Posted: 08/30/2009

BENICIA -- Bicycling and hiking enthusiasts now have a new way to cross the Carquinez Strait.

With ribbon-cutting ceremonies on both sides, the bicyclist-pedestrian path of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge officially opened Saturday, with scores of cyclists participating.

"The light shining off the water was fantastic. It was like a jewel, and everything was just so clear and so crisp," Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson said, herself an avid bicyclist.

Patterson was at both the Benicia and the Martinez ceremonies and was among the first Saturday to eagerly use the new path on the southbound George Miller Jr. span.

"This isn't the first bridge to have a path," said Bijan Sartipi, director of Caltrans' District 4, which covers the Bay Area.

The new path -- decades in the making -- continues a trend of making the Bay Area bridges accessible to bikers and pedestrians, Sartipi said. He noted the inclusion of a bike-pedestrian path on the southbound Al Zampa span of the Carquinez Bridge and a similar path on the new east span of the Bay Bridge still under construction.

The Benicia-Martinez bike/pedestrian path is also a point of convergence for six different trails, said Ted Radke, East Bay Regional Park District board director.

The two most prominent trails, which had booths and representatives at the ceremony, are the San Francisco Bay and the Bay Area Ridge trails. The twin trails seek to encircle the entire Bay Area -- the Bay Trail follows the water lines, while the Ridge Trail climbs up for the views.

About 300 miles of the Bay Trail and 320 miles of the Ridge Trail have been completed.

The new bridge path is an important step in completing the twin trails' latest project, a 50-mile loop around the Carquinez Strait anchored by the paths on the Carquinez and Benicia-Martinez bridges, said Janet McBride, executive director of the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council.

"The second spanning of the strait opens up commute possibilities," added Laura Thompson, project manager for the San Francisco Bay Trail.

Scores of bicyclists and hikers attended the ceremony and crisscrossed the bridge, braving the mid-morning heat.

"I like biking, and I want to see the country and the new bridge," said Jacob Tabacek, 17, an exchange student from Slovakia who attends Antioch Senior High School.

With his group was 16-year-old Alejandro Sanchez of Spain, also an exchange student at Antioch Senior High School.

"In Spain, everyday I practice," Sanchez said as he prepared to ride across the bridge with Tabacek.

Originally envisioned in the 1980s, the path is part of a nearly $50 million renovation of the southbound span of the bridge, which included adding a fourth lane.

"It takes a really long time to do a really good thing," Patterson said.

Contact staff writer Lanz Christian Bañes at (707) 553-6833 or lbanes@thnewsnet.com.