Have you given up on the Huguenot Bridge?

Have you used the Huguenot Bridge since the construction began? Have you run, walked or biked across the bridge? I’ve biked across the bridge just once in each direction since it was altered for the construction, and it wasn’t that fun.  Biking in the tiny shoulder with cars backing up behind isn’t the problem.  To me, it was […]

August 4, 2011; 6:27 AM • by Phil Riggan

Have you used the Huguenot Bridge since the construction began? Have you run, walked or biked across the bridge?

I’ve biked across the bridge just once in each direction since it was altered for the construction, and it wasn’t that fun.  Biking in the tiny shoulder with cars backing up behind isn’t the problem.  To me, it was the lack of an “out.”

The sidewalk in the south bound direction is usually covered with construction cones, so walking along the sidewalk — which is only possible once you are actually on the bridge due to the concrete Jersey barriers that line the roadway before reaching the bridge — is not an option.

Probably the worst of all is the Jersey barriers at the south end of the bridge. I’ve witnessed many bikers headed south on the bridge try to cross the road to go the wrong way down the ramp from Riverside Drive to head north on the Huguenot Bridge, thus avoiding the non-existent shoulder and having to take the detour to get down to the scenic byway, which is the main reason most anyone is using the bridge in the first place.

The bridge reconstruction is scheduled to last until late 2013. Can you go another two years without a way to safely cross the James by bike or foot in western Richmond?

MORE: www.huguenotbridge.org

August 4, 2011 6:27 AM 0