With the Branch Street connector completed off the Riverfront Trail and a trail extended into the park outside of Venice, the McKinley Bridge is open for business for cyclists and pedestrians.

The bridge, which opened to motor-aided traffic in November, offers a nice view of downtown and the Arch, though watch out for glass in the bike lanes on the bridge deck. (Ol’ 10 Speed’s posse crossed a couple of times since last November and found broken beer bottles in the bike lanes. Hopefully, that issue will go away with the lanes open for good.)

Missouri and Illinois officials worked together and spent $52 million to renovate the bridge and reconnect Venice, Madison and Granite City with downtown. It’s great for these Illinois communities and great for cyclists on the Missouri side of the river.

From the park on the Illinois side of the McKinley Bridge, it’s a short 2.5-mile ride through Venice and Madison to the trailhead of the Schoolhouse Trail and the awesome 80-plus miles of Madison County Transit trail system. It’s also about 2.75 miles on the big wide shoulder of Route 3 to the Confluence Trail at the intersection with 20th Street by the old Melvin Price Center. The Confluence Trail ultimately hooks up with the granddaddy of the area’s trails — the Vadalabene Great River Road in Alton, a 16-mile ride from the park. (The Lewis And Clark Museum is on the Confluence Trail as well, a little over halfway to Alton from the park.)

It’s pretty cool to have three bridge crossings for cyclists, with the McKinley Bridge joining the Chain of Rocks Bridge to the north and the Eads Bridge downtown. Now, if only there’d be a bike lane across the J.B. Bridge …