OK, we knew  work still needs to be done on the McKinley Bridge before it is completely finished  and opens for vehicular traffic, but after the dedication whooha on Saturday, we were told the bridge was open to bicycles and pedestrians.

While this may indeed be so, the P-D Posse was surprised to share the bridge and the bike lane with construction workers on Sunday  morning. A couple of  pickup trucks and a piece of heavy equipment  were parked  in the bike lane, and tho there was just enough room for our  bicycles to  pass, the situation gave us pause … particularly the heavy equipment, which had a long extension onto which a  bucket was attached for a worker to be raised to paint the top of the bridge.

Now, this was on a Sunday, so we can only imagine how busy it will be during the week as workers put the finishing touches on the $45 million project. It might not be prudent to ride through a construction zone, particularly if workers and equipment are coming and going in what will be the traffic lanes on the Illinois side of the bridge. Those lanes are the only option for cyclists until the dedicated bike lane is finished on that side of the river.

A couple other cyclists were on the bridge Sunday,  stopping for a rest and enjoying the view of downtown while the paint fumes  wafted down from the  worker  over head.

–30–