Advice wanted: Crossing the Mississippi

I'm planning my long trip for this year, and am looking at, among other
things, crossing the Mississippi River from east to west, probably either at
Vicksburg or at Memphis.

I'd appreciate any information about whether the bridges there, which are on
Interstate highways, are open to bicycles, how to access them etc.

Thanks in advance

Ron Wallenfang wrote:

I'm planning my long trip for this year, and am looking at, among other
things, crossing the Mississippi River from east to west, probably either at
Vicksburg or at Memphis.

I'd appreciate any information about whether the bridges there, which are on
Interstate highways, are open to bicycles, how to access them etc.

Thanks in advance

I know this isn't for the area requested, but in Rock Island, Illinois,
one can use the "Centennial Bridge" to cross the Mississippi into
Davenport, Iowa (The Quad Cities -- the other two cities are Moline, IL
and Bettendorf, IA). It's a nice bridge with separated and protected
pedestrian/bicycle lanes for each side of the bridge. It's a 4-lane
"local road" (state highway?) bridge, and the automotive traffic has to
cross the bridge at 35 mph, so the traffic passing by isn't so bad.

Skyhooks
h m a r d i s
""aahhtt""
u i u c
""ddoott""
e d u

I'm planning my long trip for this year, and am looking at, among other
things, crossing the Mississippi River from east to west, probably either at
Vicksburg or at Memphis.

I asked a similar question about Memphis prior to a ride I did in 2004
from Wichita to Memphis. I was told there the only two bridges in
Memphis were both Interstates and not possible for bikes to cross.
So instead, I crossed 50 miles south of there at Helena on US49. That
crossing was ok, though I did need to claim a lane in riding.

From Memphis I rented a car and drove along the "old bridge" (I-55?).
I got the impression there might be an unused pedestrian walkway on
the bridge itself but that there would be problems with the approaches
to get to/from bridge itself.

--mev, Mike Vermeulen

p.s. My most interesting Mississippi crossing occured on a railroad
bridge across the Atchafalaya channel in Louisiana as described he
http://www.mvermeulen.com/oneyear/Jo...01.htm#April06

http://www.mississippirivertrail.org/ should list most of the
crossings.

Ron Wallenfang wrote:
I'm planning my long trip for this year, and am looking at, among other
things, crossing the Mississippi River from east to west, probably either at
Vicksburg or at Memphis.

I'd appreciate any information about whether the bridges there, which are on
Interstate highways, are open to bicycles, how to access them etc.

Thanks in advance

I will be crossing back the other way, but probably at Cairo, IL, to ride
the whole length of IL en route back to Milwaukee. I have already crossed
the Mississippi at 1) Dubuque IA, 2) Minneapolis/St. Paul, in 2 or 3 places;
3) near Bemidji, MN where, knowing it's near the source of the river, it's
still a bit startling to see the sign "Mississippi River" as you cross over
a modest little brook.


"Skyhooks" wrote in message
...
Ron Wallenfang wrote:

I'm planning my long trip for this year, and am looking at, among other
things, crossing the Mississippi River from east to west, probably either
at
Vicksburg or at Memphis.

I'd appreciate any information about whether the bridges there, which are
on
Interstate highways, are open to bicycles, how to access them etc.

Thanks in advance

I know this isn't for the area requested, but in Rock Island, Illinois,
one can use the "Centennial Bridge" to cross the Mississippi into
Davenport, Iowa (The Quad Cities -- the other two cities are Moline, IL
and Bettendorf, IA). It's a nice bridge with separated and protected
pedestrian/bicycle lanes for each side of the bridge. It's a 4-lane
"local road" (state highway?) bridge, and the automotive traffic has to
cross the bridge at 35 mph, so the traffic passing by isn't so bad.

Skyhooks
h m a r d i s
""aahhtt""
u i u c
""ddoott""
e d u

In article ,
"Ron Wallenfang" wrote:

I will be crossing back the other way, but probably at Cairo, IL, to
ride the whole length of IL en route back to Milwaukee. I have
already crossed the Mississippi at 1) Dubuque IA, 2) Minneapolis/St.
Paul, in 2 or 3 places; 3) near Bemidji, MN where, knowing it's near
the source of the river, it's still a bit startling to see the sign
"Mississippi River" as you cross over a modest little brook.

Orthogonal to your trip, but you got me thinking about crossing the
river in the upper third.

On the northern third of the river, there are lots of places to cross,
of course, although many of them are not hospitable to bicycles. The
Twin Cities have numerous options, of course, with the Coon Rapids Dam
being the northernmost in the metro area and Prescott the southernmost
and probably most enjoyable. Towards the source the river becomes quite
winding and roads cross it many times. I did some riding up in the Cass
Lake area in 2004 and you're right, it's odd to see what looks like a
trout stream carrying the name "Mississippi River."

South of the Twin Cities, Hastings, Red Wing and Wabasha are not too
bad- the latter much improved a few years back with the new bridge. The
official crossing at Winona is abysmal for bikes and downright
dangerous. On the WI side just about 20 yards south-ish of the official
bridge crossing is a dirt access road that crosses the railroad tracks
and picks up a disused cement road that was the original crossing. This
leads to Latsch Island and the interesting boathouse community there,
and from the island it is simple and safe to pick up the bridge into
Winona proper. That's how I cross the river when I am riding down in
Winona. There is a lot of really outstanding riding on both sides of
the river around Winona if you like hills and quiet rural roads.

The main crossing at La Crosse for cars is I-90 which is not open to
cyclists. Cross from La Cresent into La Crosse or vice versa. Most of
that stretch of road is fine but a short stretch near La Crosse is not
so good. Since the bridge deck is metal mesh, it's better to take the
sidewalk over the main channel of the river.

There's less traffic on the WI side of the river but pavement quality is
poorer. I prefer the WI side for the most part, though. The towns are
smaller and are quite hospitable, well-spaced for snack stops and such
but more services are available on the MN side. AFAIK the only bike
shop on the WI side between River Falls and La Crosse is in Fountain
City. There are four or five shops in La Crosse. There are bike shops
in Hastings, Red Wing and Winona.

The furthest downstream that I have crossed the Mississippi River is
just south of De Soto, between La Crosse and Prairie du Chien. It's
kind of a fun steeply arched bridge that drops you down into a town in
Iowa. I can't remember the name. The roads on the Iowa side seem nice
and in general Iowa drivers are courteous to bicyclists. I've also
ridden from Harmony MN to Decorah IA and to East Union and Elkader-
wonderful riding in northeastern IA with very low traffic, excellent
pavement and pleasant little towns.

I grew up in Illinois near Chicago (Elmhurst to be precise) and I've
never ridden in western Illinois along the river. Heck, I think other
than Galena I've never even been out that way at all. I hope you post
your tour report to the Internet so we can share vicariously.

I'd appreciate any information about whether the bridges there, which
are on
Interstate highways, are open to bicycles, how to access them etc.

Thanks in advance

You might also want to check for ferries across the Mississippi. North of
St. Louis there are the Golden Eagle Ferry (St. Charles County, MO off
highway C) and Winfield Ferry (near Winfield, MO). The Golden Eagle gets a
fair amount of bicycle traffic. I can't make any specific statement about
ferries across other parts of the Mississippi.

Last Fall I went to MO Attorney General Nixon's news conference in St.
Charles suing the Governor's office over selling the Boonesville bridge
from the Katy Trail. After the Conference I rode North and took the
Golden Eagle ferry to Illinois, rode over to Brussels and took that
ferry, then a little bit south and took a third ferry from Grafton back
to Missouri.

Quiet country roads on Missouri side, Illinois 100 was a little bit
busy but has an old asphalt trail and 4 lane highway with 2 foot
shoulder on their side. About a 40 mile loop.

Mike Kruger wrote:
deleted
You might also want to check for ferries across the Mississippi. North of
St. Louis there are the Golden Eagle Ferry (St. Charles County, MO off
highway C) and Winfield Ferry (near Winfield, MO). The Golden Eagle gets a
fair amount of bicycle traffic. I can't make any specific statement about
ferries across other parts of the Mississippi.